


Apocalypse Now

by Bookdragon123_4



Series: Supernatural Mystic [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Author is bad at tagging, Self-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-24
Updated: 2020-02-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:07:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 55,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22391491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bookdragon123_4/pseuds/Bookdragon123_4
Summary: Continuation of  It’s a Hunter’s Life for Me:This covers Season 5 of SupernaturalThis work will be spanning many fandoms. If you don’t want to read about a particular one, then I suggest you read “Watcher of Worlds” before proceeding to your preferred fandom work.Anything recognizable is the property of the CW.
Series: Supernatural Mystic [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1611694
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> All recognizable characters are the property of the CW. This work is non-beta’d, all mistakes are mine. Feel free to tell me about them in the comments, but be respectful. 
> 
> Phasing- Density Shifting  
> Cloaking- Turning Invisible  
> Flashed- teleported

Dean managed to get Sam to me before the portal fully opened. I flashed us away. In the middle of teleporting, I felt my remaining strength start to fail. But before I dropped from the teleport, another power took over the transfer.

\---------------------

“What the hell?” “I don't know,” were the first things out of the boys’ mouths when we landed.

We were in Baby, parked in front of a gas station, a good ways away from the church. 

I slumped in the back seat. Speaking quickly before I went unconscious, “I teleported you out. It took a lot out of me, I’m going to go into a regenerating sleep. You won’t be able to wake me up, but I’ll be fine. I also be able to hear you guys, if you really need me.” 

They were still in too much shock to do anything but nod. Dean got out of the impala, to go inside the station. Sam stayed with me. My message given, I fell into sleep.

Once Dean got back, he told Sam what he had seen on the tv. Reports of demonic events were flooding the airwaves. I heard it as well, though I couldn’t respond.

Sam glanced at his brother. “Look, l -”

Dean cut him off. “Don't say anything. It's okay. We just gotta keep our heads down and hash this out, all right?”

“Yeah, okay.” Sam was still shaken. 

“All right, first things first. We need to find Cas.”

\-------------------------

The three of us made our way to Chuck’s house, the last place Dean and I had seen Castiel. By the time we got there, I had slept enough to be strong enough to wake up, though I wasn’t nearly at full power.

We found Chuck’s house torn apart, with blood everywhere. When Sam heard noise, he investigated, just in time to get hit in the head with a plunger. Chuck had been hiding in the closet. 

“Unh. Jeez! Ow.” Luckily it had been the rubber side.

Chuck lowered the makeshift weapon as he recognised us. “Sam?”

“Yeah.” Sam rubbed at his head. 

“Hey, Chuck.” Dean waved. Then, he pulled a small knife out and cut his palm. Sam didn’t notice, but I did. Dean started to draw a sigil on the sliding door. 

“So you're okay,” Chuck asked Sam. He sounded so relieved. 

“Well, my head hurts.” Sam quipped rubbing at the red spot on his forehead.

Chuck shook his head. “No, I mean, my last vision. You went, like, full-on Vader. Your body temperature was 150, your heart rate was 200. Your eyes were black.”

That was news to Dean. “Your eyes went black?” We hadn’t gotten to the church in time to see much of anything. 

Sam turned to his brother. “I didn't know.”

Dean didn’t continue on that line and changed the subject, addressing Chuck.“Where's Cas?”

Chuck shrugged. He looked slightly in shock. “He's dead. Or gone. The archangel smote the crap out of him. I'm sorry.”

“You're sure? Maybe he vanished into the light.” Dean was reaching for straws.

Chuck was sure. “No. He, like, exploded, like a water balloon of chunky soup.” 

Sam sighed at the bad news, then noticed something in Chuck’s hair. “You got a -” He gestured.

“I got-?” Chuck reached a hand up and felt around. “Right here?” Sam nodded and Chuck pulled out the object. “Oh. Right. Oh, God. Is that a molar? Do I have a molar in my hair?” Chuck was starting to freak out. “- This has been a really stressful day.”

“Cas, you stupid bastard.” Dean muttered.

Sam heard him, though. “Stupid? He was trying to help us.”

“Yeah, exactly. So, what now?”

“I don't know.”

Just then, I felt something. “Oh, kriff!” My senses had been on high alert, just to make sure no demons came near us. Though, it wasn’t demons I was sensing. In fact, it was the opposite.

Dean and Sam turned at my curse. “What?”

I straightened from where I had been leaning against the wall. “The angels are coming. I can feel them.”

“Thought we'd find you here.” Zachariah and two angel lackeys appeared behind the boys. “Playtime's over, Dean. Time to come with us.”

Dean was still ticked off from the last time Zachariah had been in his presence. “You keep your distance, ass-hat.”

“You're upset.” Zachariah sounded genuinely confused. 

“Yeah, a little.” Dean’s glare was accusing. “You sons of bitches jump-started Judgment Day.”

The stuck up angel shrugged. “Maybe we let it happen, but we didn't start anything. Right, Sammy?”

Sam looked away. 

Zachariah focused back on Dean. “You had a chance to stop your brother and you couldn't. Let's not quibble over who started what. Say it was all our faults and move on. Because, like it or not it's Apocalypse now and we're on the same team again.”

“Is that so?” 

He nodded. “You wanna kill the devil, we want you to kill the devil. It's synergy.”

“And I'm just supposed to trust you?” Dean’s eyebrow rose. Then, he got serious. “Cram it with walnuts, ugly.”

That irritated Zachariah. “This isn't a game, son. Lucifer is powerful in ways that defy description. We need to strike now, hard and fast before he finds his vessel.”

His words cought Sam’s attention. “His vessel? Lucifer needs a meat suit?”

“He is an angel.” Zachariah chuckled. “Them's the rules.” He got serious again. “And once he touches down, we're talking four horsemen, red oceans, fiery skies, the greatest hits. You can stop him, Dean but you need our help.”

Dean really didn’t like being told he needed help. “You listen to me, you two-faced douche. After what you did, I don't want jack squat from you!”

Now I could feel Zachariah’s anger rising. He stalked towards Dean. “You listen to  _ me _ , boy. Do you think you can rebel against us? As Lucifer did?” He noticed Dean’s cut palm. “You're bleeding.”

Dean smirked. “Oh, yeah. A little insurance policy in case you dicks showed up.” He pulled the sliding door closed a little, revealing the angel-banishing sigil. Dean slapped a hand against it. 

“No! Aah!” Zachariah tried to stop Dean, but wasn’t fast enough. The white light took him and his lackeys away. 

“I learned that from my friend Cas, you son of a bitch.” Dean said to the empty air. 

Chuck broke the silence. “This sucks ass.” 

The boys glanced at the prophet. 

\----------------------

Sam came back to the cheap motel Dean had picked for us to lay low at. It was just outside of Sioux Falls. “- Hey.”

“Hey. Here.” Sam tossed each of us a tied bag. “Hex bags. No way the angels will find us with those. Demons either.”

Dean glanced at the parcel. “Where'd you get it?”

Sam shrugged. “ - I made it. I learned it from Ruby.”

That reminded Dean of something. “Speaking of, how are you doing? Are you jonesing for another hit of bitch blood or what?”

“ It's weird, tell you the truth. I'm fine.” Sam gestured to himself. “No shakes, no fever. It's like somebody cleaned me right up.”

The boys looked at me. I raised my hands. “Not me, but there was another energy boosting me as I teleported. It was probably that.”

“Cool. Supernatural methadone.” Dean turned back to messing with his gun. 

“Yeah, I guess.” There was a pause. “Dean, -” Sam started

Dean cut him off, anticipating the conversation. “Sam. It's okay. You don't have to say anything.”

Sam put his hands on his hips, but didn’t meet Dean’s eyes. “Well, that's good. Because what can I even say? "I'm sorry"? "I screwed up"? Doesn't really do it justice, you know? Look, there's nothing I can do or say that will ever make this right.”

“So why do you keep bringing it up?!” Dean interrupted. Sam balked a little, and Dean lowered his voice. “Look, all I'm saying is why do we have to put this under a microscope? We made a mess, we clean it up. That's it.” He thought for a second. “All right, say this was just any other hunt? Yeah, what do we do first?”

  
“We'd figure out where the thing is.”

Dean nodded. “All right, so we just gotta find the devil.”

\----------------------

Dean was watching the news, and Sam and I were doing some research when a knock at the door sounded. We all glanced at each other. Dean pulled out his gun as Sam and I went to go answer the door. 

Sam oppened it to the sight of a blond young lady. She had a look of awe on her face. Sam was confused. “You okay, lady?”

That shocker her out of whatever trance she was in. “Sam, is it really you?” She reached out to touch Sam’s chest. “And you're so firm.”

I rolled my eyes, _ ‘Becky, great.’  _ Though, I did have to chuckle about how uncomfortable Sam looked.

“Uh - Do I know you?” Sam had no idea what was going on. 

Beck took her hand back and stopped grinning. “No, but I know you. You're Sam Winchester and you're-” The girl looked over at Dean and frowned. “-not what I pictured.” She moved into the room and I shut the door behind her. “I'm Becky. I've read all about you guys, and I've even written a few- Anyway, Mr. Edlund told me where you were.”

Dean stood up at the mention of the prophet. “Chuck?”

Becky nodded.“He's got a message, but he's being watched. Angels. Nice change-up to the mythology. The demon stuff was getting old.”

Sam held up his hands.“- All right. Just- What's the message?”

“He had a vision.” Becky closed her eyes to help her remember. “The Michael Sword is on Earth. The angels lost it,” She recited.

“The Michael Sword?” Dean questioned. 

“Becky, does he know where it is,” Sam added.

“In a castle on a hill made of 42 dogs.”

Dean frowned at the vague message. “Forty-two dogs? Are you sure you got that right?”

Becky shook her head. “It doesn't make sense, but that's what he said. I memorized every word. For you.” Her loving look had come back, still pointed at Sam. She stepped closer to the taller Winchester and started to touch his chest again.

“Um - Becky, can you quit touching me?” I could tell Sam was uncomfortable, but he didn’t want to push her away.

“No,” Becky whispered.

I telekinetically pushed her onto the bed. She pouted. 

Becky left soon after, and Sam and Dean contacted Bobby. 

\--------------------------

There was a knock at the door. Dean opened it to show a relieved looking Bobby. “Hey, Bobby.”

Bobby hugged Dean, then Sam, then me. “Good to see you all in one piece.”

“You weren't followed, were you?” Dean shut the door. 

“Do you mean by angels, demons, or Sam's new superfan?” Bobby chuckled.

Sam wasn’t nearly as enthusiastic. “Heh. You heard.”

“I heard, Romeo.” Bobby ribbed, then got down to business. “So, Sword of Michael, huh?”

“Do you think we're talking about the sword from the archangel?” Dean asked the lore gatherer.

Bbby huffed and nodded. “You better frigging hope so.” Bobby brought out a lore book and opened it to a picture of an angel smiting some demons. “That's Michael. Toughest son of a bitch they got.”

Dean scoffed. “Are you kidding me? Tough? The guy looks like Cate Blanchett.”

Bobby turned a page. “I wouldn't wanna meet him in a dark alley, believe me. He commands the heavenly host. During the last big dust-up upstairs he booted Lucifer's ass to the basement. He did it with that sword.”

“Yeah, he’s not one to mess with,” I added. “ He’s the oldest archangel, God’s firstborn.”

Bobby continued. “So, if we can find his sword, we can kick the devil's ass all over again.”

Dean sighed. “All right. So where do we start?”

Bobby brought out more books. “Divvy up and start reading. Try and make sense of Chuck's nonsense.”

Dean, Sam and I each grabbed one. Dean and I went to the beds to start reading, Sam stayed with Bobby at the table. After a few minutes, Bobby noticed Sam’s disgruntled look.

“Kid? You all right?”

“No, actually.” Sam stood up and faced his pseudo-father. “Bobby, this is all my fault. I'm sorry.”

“Sam.-” Dean tried to cut him off. 

Sam talked over Dean. “Lilith didn’t  _ break _ the final seal. Lilith  _ was _ the final seal.”

“- Sam, stop it.” Dean tried again.

Sam didn’t stop. “I killed her and I set Lucifer free.” 

At that last confession Bobby stood as well. “You what?”

Sam hung his head. “You guys warned me about Ruby, the demon blood, but I didn't listen. I brought this on.”

Bobby’s face turned sour. “You're damn right you didn't listen. You were reckless and selfish and arrogant.”

“I’'m sorry.”

“Oh, yeah?” Bobby wasn’t having an appology. He got into Sam’s face. “You're sorry you started Armageddon? This kind of thing don't get forgiven, boy. If, by some miracle, we pull this off I want you to lose my number. Do you understand me?”

I looked over at Dean, to see what he though of the whole thing. Dean wasn’t looking at either of the other men. I was getting suspicious. Bobby had been the one advocating for Dean to help Sam, earlier.

“There's an old church nearby,” Sam whispered. “Maybe I'll go read some of the lore books there.”

“Yeah. You do that.” 

Sam picked up a few books and left the room. Bobby turned back to Dean. “I never would've guessed your daddy was right.”

That shocked Dean out of his thoughts. “About what?”

Bobby motioned to the door. “About your brother. What John said-we save Sam or kill him. Maybe-”

“Maybe what?”

“Maybe he shouldn't have tried to save him.”

Dean turned away. “Bobby.”

Bobby’s voice calmed down. “He ended the world, Dean. And the three of us weren't strong enough to stop him proper. That's on us. I'm just saying your dad was right.”

“Dad?” The mention of his father sparked a memory. Dean started to rifle through John’s journal. “It's gotta be in here.

“What are you talking about?” Bobby didn’t know what Dean was looking for.

“ Here. I don't believe it.” Dean pulled a small slip of paper out. It looked like a business card. “I don't believe it.”

“What the hell is it?” 

“It's a card for my dad's lock-up in upstate New York. Read it.” Dean handed it to Bobby.

Bobby read it slowly. “Castle Storage, 42 Rover Hill.”

Dean grinned. “Castle on a hill of 42 dogs.” 

“Think your dad had the Michael Sword all this time?” Bobby’s eye’s widened.

“I don't know. I'm not sure what else Chuck could've meant.” Dean shrugged. 

“Yeah, okay. It's good enough for me.” Bobby turned to the table to get his keys.

I felt the aura around Bobby change. It turned dark. I let my shields down for a quick second. Around Bobby was a black mist.

“Dean, demon,” I yelled and pointed at Bobby’s back.

Dean whipped out his gun ad trained it on Bobby out of instinct, but he didn’t fire. The demon was wearing his family after all. 

‘Bobby’ stiffened and turned back around. His eyes flashed black. The door behind us opened to show a lady with some large men with her.They wee demons as well. They walked in and surrounded us. Dean knew we couoldn’t win a fight, not with those odds, so he put his gun away.

The lady demon started to talk. “I always knew you were a big, dumb, slow, dim, pain in the ass, Dean. But I never dreamt you were so VIP.” She grabbed the demon knife off the night stand. “I mean, you're gonna ice the devil? You? Heh. If I'd known that, I'd have ripped your pretty, pretty face off ages ago.”

“Ruby?”

She shook her head. “Try again. Go back further.”

Recognition flashed in Dean’s eyes. “Meg.”

“Hi.” Meg gave a flirtatious wave. “These are the days of miracle and wonder, Dean. Our father's among us. You know we're all dreaming again for the first time since we were human? It's heaven on Earth, or hell. We really owe your brother a fruit basket.”

“My god, you like the sound of your own voice.” Dean grit out. He had been grabbed by ‘Bobby’ and another one of the brute demons. Only one was spared to hold on to me, big mistake. 

Meg talked over him. “But you, on the other hand? You're the only bump in the road. So every demon, every single one, is just dying for a piece of you.”

“Not going to happen,” I snarled at the same time Dean snarked, “Get in line.”

“Oh, I'm in the front of the line, baby.” Meg came closer to Dean, ignoring me. “Let's ride.” She kissed Dean full on the mouth, French style.

When she released Dean, he rolled his tongue around his mouth. “What was that? Peanut butter?”

Meg ignored his quip. “You know, your surrogate daddy's still awake. Screaming in there. And I want him to know how it feels, slicing the life out of you.” She handed ‘Bobby’ the demon knife. 

I started to struggle as Dean was pushed into the wall by ‘Bobby.’ But, I didn’t want to reveal my powers to the demons ust yet, so I had to rely on regular fighting. The other demons kept me too busy to help Dean. I could hear him pleading with his psudo father.

“Bobby. Bobby, no. No.”

“Now!” Meg aws getting impatient. 

“Bobby. No. No!”

I killed the last minion demon just in time to see ‘Bobby’ stab himself instead of Dean. I turned to Meg. She teleported away before I had the time to do anything. 

With her gone, I went to help Dean with Bobby. Just then, Sam came running back into the room.

“What happened?” He asked, falling to his knees next to Dean and me. I was trying to stop the bleeding.

“- He was stabbed.” Dean replied tersely. 

I knew that Bobby needed real help so I teleported the four of us into a ally behind a hospital. We rushed inside, supporting Bobby. 

\-------------------

“Need some help here! He’s been stabbed!”

Orderlies jumped into action, taking Bobby from us. “Can we get a gurney?”

“Okay, Bobby. You're gonna be okay,” Dean said as they wheeled him away. I don’t know if he could hear Dean.

A nurse stopped us before we could continue with Bobby. “Just wait here.”

Sam motioned to the retreating gurney. “We can't just leave him.”

She fixed him with a stare. “Just don't move. I've got questions.” The nurse turned away to help another person.

Dean turned to his brother. “Sammy, we gotta go.”

“No. No way, Dean.” Sam was still staring at the doors Bobby had gone through.

“Demons heard where the sword is.” Dean nugged his brother to get Sam’s attention back. “We gotta get to it before they do, if we're not too late already. Come on.” He pulled Sam towards the door. I followed the brothers. 

\-----------------

We walked out of the ER and I teleported us to the storage place Dean gave me the address to. Once we arrived, I gave the boys spare handguns, which I had stored in my pocket space for just such an occasion.

When we oppened the container, there was a heavy layer of dust on everything. The place hadn’t been touched in years, except for the two dead demons on the ground. We made our way cautiously inside. 

Sam and Dean were looking around when I stiffened at the feeling of another’s power. We all turned around at the voice.

“I see you told the demons where the sword is.” It was Zachariah and two angel lackeys.

“Oh, thank God. The angels are here,” Dean said with no little amount of sarcasm.

“And to think,”Zachariah stepped daintily over the demon corpses. “They could've grabbed it any time they wanted. Right in front of them.” He shut and locked the door telekinetically.

“What do you mean?” Dean became even more wary as the door shut.

The pompous angel shrugged. “We may have planted that prophecy inside Chuck's skull, but it happened to be true. We did lose the Michael Sword. We truly couldn't find it, until now. You've just hand-delivered it to us.”

“We don't have anything.”

Zachariah sighed as he saw that Dean wasn’t getting it. “It's you, chucklehead. You're the Michael Sword.”

At the boys’ look of shock, he snorted. “What, you thought you could actually kill Lucifer? You simpering wad of insecurity and self-loathing? No. You're just a human, Dean. And not much of one.”

“I'm the sword?” Dean still didn’t believe the angel.

Zachariah stepped forward some more. “You're Michael's weapon. Or rather, his receptacle.”

That sparked something in Dean. “I'm a vessel?”

Zachariah nodded. “You're _ the  _ vessel. Michael's vessel.”

“How? Why? Why me?”

“Because you're chosen. It's a great honor, Dean.”

Dean didn’t like the phrasing of that. “Oh, yeah. Yeah. Life as an angel condom. That's really fun. I think I'll pass, thanks.”

“Joking. Always joking.” Zachariah shook his head. “Well, no more jokes. - Bang.” He made a finger gun and pointed it as Sam. At his word, a sickening crack sounded and Sam crumpled. 

“Aah! Unh.” Sam gripped his leg. It was bent at an odd angel, broken. 

I rushed to Sam’s side. Dean glanced at Sam, but once he saw me taking care of him, Dean turned back to the angel. I kept an ear on the conversation as I helped Sam.

“You son of a bitch.”

Zachariah tutted. “Keep mouthing off, I'll break more than his legs.” He got serious. “I am completely and utterly through screwing around. The war has begun. We don't have our general. That's bad. Now, Michael is going to take his vessel and lead the final charge against the adversary. Do you understand me?”

Dean wasn’t going to take that lying down. “How many humans die in the crossfire, huh? - A million? Five? Ten?”

“-Probably more.” Zachariah interrupted. “If Lucifer goes unchecked, how many die? All of them. He'll roast the planet alive.”

The mini-speech gave Dean time to think. “There's a reason you're telling me all this, instead of just nabbing me.” He snapped his fingers. “You need my consent. Michael needs my say-so to ride around in my skin.”

Zachariah looked put out. “Unfortunately, yes.”

“There's gotta be another way.” Dean shook his head.

“There is no other way. There must be a battle. Michael must defeat the serpent. It is written.” Zachariah was really angry now. 

“Yeah, maybe. But on the other hand, eat me. The answer's no.” Dean was firm.

“Okay. How about this?” Zachariah tried a different tactic. “Your friend Bobby, we know he's gravely injured. Say "yes" and we'll heal him. Say "no," he'll never walk again.”

“No.” Dean repeated.

“Then how about we heal you from stage-four stomach cancer?” Zachariah waved his hand.

Dean fell to his knees in pain, but wouldn’t break. “No.”

“Then let's get really creative. Let's see how Sam does without his lungs. And, how Jade does blind. 

Because the power affected the light around my eyes, my natural defenses didn’t work. My world went dark, but I could still use my telekinesis to see. *Think heat vision. Just shapes, no detail* Sam was gasping for breath besides me. I started to push oxygen directly into his body, creating an artificial airfield where his lungs were. It allowed him to get enough air to live, if not breath in the normal sense.

“Are we having fun yet?” Zachariah grabbed Dean by the jaw. “You're going to say yes, Dean.”

“Just kill us,” Dean ground out.

“Kill you? Oh, no. I'm just getting started.” Before Zachariah could do anything else, a bright light forced Dean to turn away. Once it resceaded, I could see the outline of a man attacking the angel lackeys. He killed both of them.

“How are you-,” Zachariah started.

“-Alive? It's a good question.” By the voice, it was Castiel. “How did these three get away? Another good question, because the angels didn't do it. We both know the answer, don't we?”

“No. That not possible.” Zachariah sounded shocked.

“It scares you. Well, it should. Now, put them back together and go. I won't ask twice.”

With that, Zachariah few away, and I could see again. Sam took a deep breath. All three of us stood up and faced Cas.

“You two need to be more careful,” Castiel scolded.

Dean nodded shakily. “Yeah, I'm starting to get that. Your frat brothers are bigger dicks than I thought.”

Castiel shook his head. “I don't mean the angels. Lucifer is circling his vessel and once he takes it, those hex bags won't be enough to protect you.” he stepped forward and placed a hand on each of the boys’ stomachs. They glowed for a few seconds as Sam and Dean groaned. Then, Cas did the same to me. It felt like knives stabbing me in every rib at once. I grimaced.

“What the hell was that,” Dean said as he panted for breath.

“An Enochian sigil.” Castiel took a few steps back. “It'll hide you from every angel in creation, including Lucifer.”

“Did you brand us with it?” Dena rubbed at his chest.

“No. I carved it into your ribs.” Cas stated.

The boys stared at the angel, before Sam shook himself out of his thoughts. “Hey, Cas, were you really dead?”

“Yes.”

“Then how are you back,” Dean added.

Cas just looked at us, then flew away. 

\------------------------

After Dean and Sam disposed of the demon and angel corpses, I teleported us back to the hospital Bobby was at. Knowing that asking a nurse where Bobby was would be a bad idea, I sent my mind out to find his. Once I did, I lead the boys to Bobby’s room, just in time to hear an orderly get yelled out the room. 

"Unlikely to walk again"? Why you snot-nosed son of a bitch. Wait till I get out of this bed. I'll use my game leg and kick your frigging ass! Yeah, you'd better run!” Bobby looked at us as we walked in. “Do you believe that yahoo?”

Dean waved his hand and approached the bed. “Screw him. You'll be fine.”

Bobby turned to us fully. We all got serious once the door was closed. Once Dean and Sam filled Bobby in about Dean being the Michael sword and the big fight, we all fell into a grim silence.

Sam broke the ice. “So let me ask the million-dollar question. What do we do now?”

Bobby shrugged. “Well, we save as many as we can for as long as we can, I guess. It's bad. Whoever wins, heaven or hell, we're boned.”

“What if we win,” Dean posed. Both Sam and Bobby looked at him. “I'm serious. Screw the angels and the demons and their crap Apocalypse. You know, they wanna fight a war, they can find their own planet.” Dean started to pace. “This one's ours, and I say they get the hell off it. We take them all on. We kill the devil, Michael, if we have to, but we do it our own damn selves.”

“And how are we supposed to do all this, genius?” Bobby inquired.

Dean huffed. “I got no idea. But what I do have is a GED and a give-them-hell attitude. I'll figure it out.”

Bobby just stared at Dean and shook his head. “You are nine kinds of crazy, boy.”

“It's been said.” Dean stood. “Listen, you stay on the mend. We'll see you in a bit.” Dean and I walked out the room. Sam stayed behind as Bobby called for him. I could hear the conversation as I walked away. 

“Sam? I was awake. I know what I said back there. I just want you to know that that was the demon talking. I ain't cutting you out, boy. Not ever.”

“Thanks, Bobby.”

“You're welcome.” Bobby snorted. “I deserve a damn medal for this, but you're welcome.”

Sam rejoined us about halfway down the hall. We all made our way outside, then I flashed us back to the motel where Baby was. 

Sam spoke as we were getting in. “You know, I was thinking, Dean. Maybe we could go after the Colt.”

“What difference would that make?”

“Use it on Lucifer. I mean, you just said back there-” Sam gestured over his shoulder, meaning the hospital, with Bobby.

Dean cut him off. “-I said a bunch of crap for Bobby. I mean, I'll fight. I'll fight till the last man, but let's be honest. I mean, we don't stand a snowball's chance and you know that. I mean, hell, you of all people know that.” He continued getting in the car. 

Sam stayed on the drivers side. “Dean. Is there something you wanna say to me?”

Dean sighed and stood back up. “I tried, Sammy. I mean, I really tried. But I just can't keep pretending that everything's all right. Because it's not and it's never going to be. You chose a demon over your own brother and look what happened.”

Sam looked heartbroken. “I would give anything anything to take it all back.”

“I know you would. And I know how sorry you are, I do. But, man you were the one that I depended on the most and you let me down in ways that I can't even- I'm just I'm having a hard time forgiving and forgetting here, you know?” Dean looked Sam in the eye.

“What can I do?” Sam broke the contact.

“Honestly?” Dean looked down at Baby. “Nothing. I just don't I don't think that we can ever be what we were, you know? I just don't think I can trust you.” He got in the Impala and shut the door. 

Sam didn’t make a move to go around and get in. I had to nudge him to get him to move. But, eventually, Sam got in the car. Needless to say, the car ride to Bobby’s house was tense. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All recognizable characters are the property of the CW. This work is non-beta’d, all mistakes are mine. Feel free to tell me about them in the comments, but be respectful. 
> 
> Phasing- Density Shifting  
> Cloaking- Turning Invisible  
> Flashing- teleporting

“It been, like, three days now? We gotta cheer him up. Maybe I'll give him a back rub.”

Dean walked up to Sam and I. The two of us were watching Bobby, who was still in the hospital. He had been cleared to use a wheelchair, but Bobby hadn’t been out of his room yet. He just sat by the window.

“Dean.” I gave Dean a look.

“Well, what, then?”

Sam sighed, he and I had been talking after he had asked me to heal Bobby. “Look, we might have to wrap our heads around the idea that Bobby might not just bounce back this time. What's in the envelope?”

Dean handed the pictures to Sam. They were x-rays. “Went down to Radiology, got some glamour shots. Let's just say the doctors are baffled.”

“Holy crap.” Sam muttered to himself. The pictures showed Dean’s ribs. They had symbols carved all over them.

Dean glanced at his brother. “Yeah, well, Cas carved you one too.”

Just then, Sam’s phone rang. “Hello? Castiel?” 

I didn’t feel like listening in, so I only heard one side of the conversation.

“St. Martin's Hospital… Why, what are you-?... Cas?-” Sam took the phone away from his ear. It seemed like Castiel had hung up on him.

\------------------

Not two minutes later, Cas came walking down the hall to us.

“Cell phone?” Dean raised a brow. “Since when do angels need to reach out and touch someone?”

Cas explained. “You're hidden from angels now. All angels. I won't be able to simply-”

Bobby noticed the angel’s arrival. “Enough foreplay. Get over here and lay your damn hands on. Get healing. Now.”

“I can't.”

Bobby turned his wheelchair around to face us. “Say again?”

“I'm cut off from heaven much of heaven's power. Certain things I can do, certain things I can't.” Castiel looked both apologetic and sad at the loss of the connection. “I'm sorry.”

“You're telling me you lost your mojo just in time to get me stuck in this trap the rest of my life.” Bobby seemed angry, but I could tell he was just scared, scared to lose his mobility and usefulness, at least in his eyes.

“I'm sorry.” Cas repeated. 

“Shove it up your ass.” Bobby turned back to the window. 

“Well, at least he's talking now,” Dean whispered.

Though not quietly enough. “I heard that.

Cas turned to Dean. “I don't have much time. We need to talk.”

“Okay.” Dean nodded. 

“Your plan to kill Lucifer -”

“Yeah, you wanna help?” Dean interrupted. 

Cas ignored him. “No. It's foolish. It can't be done.”

Dean snorted. “Thanks for the support.”

“But I believe I have the solution. There is someone, besides Michael, strong enough to take on Lucifer. Strong enough to stop the apocalypse.”

“Who's that,” Sam asked.

Castiel got really serious. “The one who resurrected me and helped you out of that church. The one who began everything. God. I'm gonna find God.”

“God?-” The boys really didn’t understand. 

I shut the door, to make sure any passing nurses didn’t hear the, frankly, insane conversation.

Cas nodded. “Yes. He isn't in heaven. He has to be somewhere.”

“Try New Mexico. I hear he's on a tortilla,” Dean snarked.

Cas squinted his eyes. “No, he's not on any flatbread.”

Dean rolled his eyes. “Listen, chuckles, even if there is a God, he is either dead and that's the generous theory-”

“He is out there.” It was Cas that interrupted that time. 

Dean talked over him. “-Or he's up and kicking and doesn't give a rat's ass about any of us. I mean, look around you.” He gestured out the window. “The world is in the toilet. We are literally at the end of days here and he's off somewhere, drinking booze out of a coconut. All right?”

Cas swiped a hand in front of himself. “Enough. This is not a theological issue. It's strategic. With God's help, we can win.”

“It's a pipe dream, Cas.” 

The angel’s eyes narrowed and he got in Dean’s face. “I killed two angels this week. Those are my brothers. I'm hunted. I rebelled, and I did it- all of it- for you, and you failed. You and your brother destroyed the world and I lost everything… for nothing. So keep your opinions to yourself.”

Dean took a step back. “You didn't drop in just to tear us a new hole. What is it you want?”

Cas calmed down just a little. “I did come for something. An amulet.”

“An amulet? What kind?” Sam joined the conversation.

“Very rare. Very powerful. It burns hot in God's presence. It'll help me find him.”

“What, like, God EMF?” 

Cas nodded.

Sam shrugged. “ Well, I don't know. I got nothing like that.”

“I know. You don't.” Castiel turned to Dean and stared at his chest. 

Dean glanced down and gestured to the amulet necklace he always wore. “What? This?”

“May I borrow it?”

“No.” Dean put a hand over the charm.

“Dean, give it to me.” Castiel got more firm.

After a few seconds, Dean sighed and started to take the necklace off. “All right, I guess. Don't lose it.” Cas took the necklace. Dean frowned. “Oh, great. Now I feel naked.”

“I'll be in touch.” Cas threw over his shoulder as he turned to leave. 

“When you find God, tell him to send legs.” Bobby added as Cas flew away. 

\------------------------

“This is the only road in or out,” Sam informed us as we stopped at a broken bridge. We were on our way to River Pass, Colorado. Bobby had gotten a call from a hunter friend of his, Rufus Turner, about a town full of demons. 

Dean surveyed the break as he tried to get a cell signal. “No signal. Rufus was right. Demons got this place locked down. Looks like we're hiking in.”

“Nope,” The boys turned to me. “Teleportation, remember? Grab what you think we’ll need. We can put it in my pocket space, then we can go.”

Sam and Dean nodded and got to work filling a duffel bag with everything we could possibly need. I stuck it in my space, then grabbed hold of the boys and flashed to the edge of town. 

\---------------

The place looked deserted. There were overturn cars and ransacked stores, but not one person. A red mustang in particular caught my eye. We cautiously made our way around town.

I spun around at a presence behind us. It was Ellen, with a gun that was pointed at us. The boys turned around at the cocking of the gun.

“Ellen?” Sam recognised her first.

She didn’t lower the piece. “Hello, boys. Who’s the girl.”

“Ellen, it’s nice to see you.” Sam said. “This is Jade. She is a friend of ours.”

Ellen lowered the gun, and walked toward us like she was going to hug the boys. Instead we all got water splashed in our faces. I realized it was holy water at the tingle.

“What the heck's going on here?” Dean sputtered. “We're us.”

Elen nodded then walked past us towards a church. As we entered, everyone stepped over the salt line and devil’s trap in front of the door. 

Once the door had been shut, Ellen turned and almost tackled Dean in a hug. “Real glad to see you, boys.” Then she slapped him on the shoulder. “The can of whoop-ass I ought to open on you. You can't pick up a phone? What, are you allergic to giving me peace of mind?! I gotta find out that you're alive from Rufus?!”

“Sorry.” 

“Yeah, you better be. You better put me on speed dial, kid.” She glared. 

“Yes, ma'am.” Dean affirmed.

We continued walking towards the back of the church as Dean started getting some answers. “So, what's going on, Ellen?”

“More than I can handle alone.” She knocked on the door we came to. “It’s me.” The door opened to show a group of people. They all stared at us.

She introduced us. “This is Sam, Dean, and Jade. They’re hunters. -Here to help.”

“How many demons are there,” Sam questioned as we walked in. 

“Pretty much whole town minus the dead people and these guys.” Ellen gestured to the people around us. 

I frowned and sent my senses out. The town didn’t feel like there was a huge demon presence. There was no dark, oppressive feeling, no black mist that usually floats around demons.

“You guys hip to this whole demon thing?” A man with a hunting rifle asked. 

Dean nodded. “Yeah, are you?”

Another man, with spectacles and a gold ring, piped up. “My wife's eyes turned black. She came at me with a brick. Kind of makes you embrace the paranormal.”

I still had my senses out, and they didn’t like that man. 

Dean didn’t notice my unease. “All right, catch us up.”

Ellen shook her head. “I doubt I know much more than you. Rufus called, said he was in town investigating omens. The whole town was possessed. Me and Jo were nearby-”

“You were hunting with Jo?” Dean sounded surprised.

“Yeah, for a while now.” Ellen shrugged it off. “We got here and the place- Well, the place was like you see it. Couldn't find Rufus, then me and Jo got separated. I was out looking when I found you.”

Dean looked Ellen in the eye. “Don't worry. We'll find her.”

Sam joined in. “Either way, these people can’t just sit here, we gotta get them out, now.”

“It's not that easy.” Ellen nixed the idea. “I've been trying. We made a run for it once.”

“What happened?”

“There used to be 20 of us.” We looked at the room of about ten people.

“There's four of us now, and Jade almost counts as two.” Dean gestured to us, meaning trained hunters.

Ellen shook her head. “You don't know what it's like. Demons are everywhere. We won't cover everybody.”

“What if we get everyone guns,” Sam suggested.

  
“Are you gonna arm up baby bump over here?” Dean glanced at the pregnant lady in the room.

“More salt we can fire at once, more demons we can keep away.” Sam reasoned. “There's a sporting store we passed on Main on the way in. I bet they got guns.”

“All right.” Dean motioned to Ellen. “You stay. We'll go.”

“What about-?” 

Dean cut her off. “If Jo and Rufus are there we'll bring them back.” 

Dean, Sam, and I exited the room, but Dean stopped Sam before we could get out the church. 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on. Why don't I just go with Jade?”

Sam stopped as well. “What? Just you two, alone?”

Dean nodded. “Somebody's gotta stay, start giving them Shotgun 101.”

“Yeah, Ellen.” Sam really didn’t want to be left behind.

“No, no, no. It'll go faster if you stay and help.” Dean tried.

Sam wasn’t buying it. “While you go get guns and salt  _ and _ look for Jo and Rufus? That's stupid.”

“We can handle it.”

“You don't want me going out there,” Sam realized

“I didn't say that.”

“-Around demons.”

“I didn't say that.”

“Fine. Then let's go.” Sam brushed past his brother. 

\-------------------------

“I'll get the salt. You get the guns.” Each of the boys had a shotgun. I had a knife out, and the other in a sheath I formed on my thigh.

“No, we'll go together,” Dean replied.

“Dean, it's right there. Can we at least do this like professionals?” Sam stalked off. I followed him. 

We entered a gas statiation and went straight to the salt. As we were gathering the condiment, the bell above the door jingled. 

Sam tensed and quietly reached for another can, but it fell. The two men who had entered rushed around the shelves and came straight for us. Sam and I started to fight them, but I was hesitant. 

Ever since we heard about the demons, I’d had my shields lowered, to know immediately if anyone was a demon. The two men didn’t show any of the normal signs of being demons, and I didn’t think that demons could hide from me. 

“Sam,” I call over the fighting.

“What?”

“I don’t think these are demons.” I knocked my person out. Sam had already killed his person, and was staring at the blood on the knife. My words shocked him out of his thoughts.

“They had black eyes.” Sam walked over to me. 

I shook my head. “I didn’t see any black eyes, and they aren’t showing any of the normal signs of being demons, neither is this town. Demons can’t hide from me, as far as I know, especially not this many demons.”

Sam put a hand on his hip. “Then what else could it be. I saw black eyes.”

“Something’s up around here, and I don’t think it’s demons.”

Just then Dean came into the store, carrying several shotguns. “Sammy? Jade?”

Sam motioned to his brother, and we filled him in on what I had been sensing.

“What else could it be then?” Dean asked.

I sighed, making sure to not interfere with events too much was tiring. “We don’t know.”

“Well, let’s just get this back to Ellen. We can investigate more later.”

With that, the three of us made our way back to the church. 

\---------------------

The townspeople were learning how to use the guns Dean had brought back. It was slow goings, but they were getting there. I was standing against a wall, not helping. I still didn’t like the feel of the whole situation. 

I walked over to where Sam and Dean were talking angrily, just in time for Sam to push Dean into a wall and stalk off with Ellen. They left, and Dean went back to helping the people. 

It was almost an hour later that Ellen came barging back in the room. She was alone. 

“Where's Sam,” Dean asked.

Ellen shook her head. That set the townspeople off as they realized what that meant. 

“They took him? Demons took him? Oh, my God.”

“What if they're in here?”

“The demons? Could they get in?” 

“No.” Dean grabbed up a shot gun. “Everybody sit tight, I gotta-” He made for the door, but stopped before opening it. He turned around. “We need to get a plan. Tell me everything.” 

  
Ellen nodded and started explaining. “Dean, one of them's in Jo. We gotta get it out without hurting her.” She paused as she remembered something. “It called me a bitch.”

“Bruising a little easy, don't you think?”

Ellen shook her head. “Oh, it's not what I meant. It called me a black-eyed bitch.”   
  


Dean and I shared a glance. 

“What kind of demons are these? Holy water and salt roll right off. My daughter may be an idiot, but not stupid. She wears an anti-possession charm. It's all kind of weird, right?”

“The whole thing's off,” I added. “I haven’t been getting normal demon readings at all since I got here. 

“Yeah,” Dean confirmed. “Something is definitely off around here.”

“What's your instinct?” Ellen tried to stir up some ideas.

“My instinct?” Dean snorted. “My instinct is to call Bobby and ask for help, or Sam.”

Ellen shrugged. “Well, tough. All you got's me and all I got're you two. So let's figure it out.”

“All right.” Dean thought for a second, then asked, “ Do you know why Rufus came to town? Was there a specific omen?”

Ellen shook here head. “He said something about water. That's all I know.”

Dean called out to the priest in the room. “Padre, you know what she's talking about? The water?”

The man nodded. “The river ran polluted, all of a sudden.”

“When?”

“Last Wednesday. The demon thing started up next day.”

“Anything else? Anything?” Dean addressed the rest of the people.

Another man spoke up. “Maybe, but it's pretty random.”

Dean nodded. “Good, random's good.”

“Shooting star,” The mon continued. “ Does that count? Real big. Same night, Wednesday.”

“Well, that definitely counts.” Dean went over to the bookshelf and grabbed a Bible. He flipped to a certain passage and read, "And there fell a great star from heaven, burning like a torch and it fell upon the river, and the name of the star was Wormwood. And many men died.”

“Revelation 8:10.” The father recognised. “Are you saying that this is about the apocalypse?”

“You could say.” Dean dug for more information. “These specific omens, they're prelude to what?”

I answered as I remembered what had been going on. “The four horsemen.”

“And which one rides the red horse?”

“War. You thinking the red mustang we passed on the way in?”

Dean tilted his head. “It's the way I'd roll. I mean, think about it. It all makes sense. If War's a dude and he's here, maybe he's messing with our heads. Turning us on each other.” He turned to Ellen. “Jo called you a black-eyed bitch.They think we're demons. We think they're demons. What if there are no demons? We're killing each other.”

“That’s why I can’t sense any demons,” I though out loud. “There are none.”

Now all of that had the priest confused. “Wait, just back up. It's the apocalypse?”

“Sorry, Padre.” Dean actually looked a little contrite. “Well, regardless, we still need to get these people out of town.”

Everyone got back to work.

\--------------------------

It was late afternoon when more pounding on the door came. 

“Open up, man! Open up! It's Roger!” The man with the spectacles and ring came barging in. I hadn’t noticed that he’d left. “I saw them,” He panted. “The demons. They know we're trying to leave. They said they're gonna pick us off.”

Now that we knew there were no demons, and that War was roaming around, I decided to investigate the feeling I’d had about ‘Roger.’

I probed at the aura that was surrounding Roger. As soon as I touched it, it hit me with a wave of anger and rage. It made me want to fight everyone in the room. Luckly, I had my shields back up, so I could repel the attack. 

“Dean, keep them back.” I whispered to the older hunter.. He shot me a questioning look. “Trust me.” He nodded, and subtly got between me and the townspeople. 

I took a deep breath, then I sent a sliver of my power into Roger’s body like a needle. Roger doubled over in pain, which confirmed my theory, as normal people couldn’t feel my powers. Dean stopped the townspeople from going to his aid. 

As I dug deeper, I hit a core of suppressed power. Even looking for it, it was faint. There was no wonder that I had missed it the first time I checked the man. 

In a split second, I remembered how War had been manipulating everyone. His ring. Now that I knew what it felt like, I felt most of his power emanating from the ring. I used all of my enhanced speed to sweep over to ‘Roger’ and yank his ring off. It was a simple gold band.

With the ring in hand, I pulled out the needle of my power, and War stood up straight. His face was passive, not at all like how a man would normally react to unidentified pain. 

Dean and Ellen pointed their guns at War. He raised his hands. “Ah, you caught me. But, your too late. They’re on their way. You’re all dead.”

With that, he had enough power left to teleport away. 

“Damn.” Dean lowered his gun.

“That was War,” The priest asked. 

“Yeah,” I nodded. “But, I’ve got his ring. His source of power. He can’t manipulate us any more.”

\---------------

Just then, a bullet whizzed through the wall. Everyone ducked, some of the ladies screamed.

I stretched my senses out and found that the church was surrounded by the other townspeople.

“Dean, we’re surrounded. The other side doesn’t know about War yet. They still think we’re demons. I’m going to go outside and stop them. Keep everyone low.” Another shot blasted through.

He nodded. “Okay. Be safe.”

I nodded in return, then phased out of the room. Outside, the other townspeople, including Rufus and Jo, were still firing at the church. 

I rematerialized in front of the church. Everyone started firing at me, but I blocked all the shots. I sent a telekinetic wave at everyone, that knocked them down. I then blanketed them in my power and used it to pull any of War’s influence from their minds. When I was done, I let the people back up and called to Dean in my mind.

_ ‘You can come out now.’ _

After a minute, Dean and Ellen were the first to emerge from the church. The people already outside retrained their guns at them but didn’t fire. Dean had the time to explain about War. 

Once everyone had put away their weapons, Dean, Ellen, and I went over to Rufus and Jo.

“So,” Dean started as Ellen and Jo embraced. “Where did you put Sam?”

Rufus told us, and Dean and I went to the specified house. Sam was upstairs, tied to a chair. He had salt all over his face and looked very relieved to see us. 

“Dean it’s-”

“War, we know. It’s been taken care of.” Dean interrupted as I cut Sam loose. 

“Really?” Sam stood up and brushed salt off his face.

Dean snorted a laugh. “Yeah, Jade here could sense War’s power. Too bad you missed all the fun though.”

\--------------------------

“So pit stop on Mount Doom?”

The boys and I had finished up in the town, and we were sitting on a picnic table at a rest stop. Dean was examining the ring. 

Sam turned serious eyes to his brother. “Dean-”

Dean cut his brother off, not wanting to talk about the tension between them. “- Sam, let's not.”

Sam was persistent, wanting to get it out. “No, listen. This is important. I know you don't trust me. Just- Now I realize something. I don't trust me either. From the minute I saw that blood, the only thought in my head-” He cut himself off and took a deep breath.

“And I tell myself it's for the right reasons. My intentions are good and it feels true, you know? But I think, underneath, I just miss the feeling.” Sam’s voice was rough. “I know how messed up that sounds, which means I know how messed up I am. Thing is, the problem's not the demon blood. Not really. I mean,- 

What I did?” He sighed. “I can't blame the blood or Ruby or anything. The problem's me. How far I'll go. There's something in me that scares the hell out of me, Dean. In the last couple days, I caught another glimpse.”

“So, what are you saying?” Dean didn’t really understand. I patted his arm.

Sam continued. “ I'm in no shape to be hunting. I need to step back because I'm dangerous. Maybe it's best we just go our separate ways.”

Dean nodded after a second. “Well, I think you're right.”

Sam blinked. “I was expecting a fight.”

Dean held eye contact. “Truth is, I spend more time worrying about you than about doing the job right. I just I can't afford that, you know? Not now.”

“I'm sorry, Dean.” Sam dropped his gaze.

“I know you are, Sam.” Dean tried to lighten the mood. “Hey, uh you wanna take the lmpala?”

Sam shook his head. “That's okay. Take care of yourself, Dean.”

“Yeah, you too, Sammy.” 

I caught Sam’s eyes. “I’ll take care of him.”

Sam gave me a small smile and with that, we all got up. I went with Dean, and Sam went the other way.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All recognizable characters are the property of the CW. This work is non-beta’d, all mistakes are mine. Feel free to tell me about them in the comments, but be respectful. 
> 
> Phasing- Density Shifting  
> Cloaking- Turning Invisible  
> Flash- teleport

Dean and I had been through a lot in the last couple of weeks. It included, but wasn’t limited to, Dean being sent to the future, jointing back up with Sam, us being attacked by Paris Hilton, the antichrist, and gambling witches. 

Needless to say, we were tired. 

\----------------------------

Dean, Sam, and I were in a motel room getting ready to go out for a hunt. Sam was getting dressed. Dean and I were already ready, so he was watching the tv, and I was reading a book. 

Sam came out of the bathroom, buttoning his shirt sleeve. “What are you watching?”

Dean shrugged. “Just some hospital show. Dr. Sexy, M.D. I think it's based on a book.”

“When did you hit menopause,” Sam joked.

“It's called channel-surfing.” Dean shut the tv off. “You ready?”

\----------------------------

“One more time. The FBI is here why, exactly?” The sheriff we were talking to was skeptical on our reasoning. 

“Something to do with one of your locals getting his head ripped off,” Dean replied.

“Bill Randolph died from a bear attack.” The sheriff sounded done with the case.

“How sure are you that it was a bear,” Sam asked. 

“What else would it be?”

“Well, whatever it was, it chased Mr. Randolph through the woods, smashed through his front door, followed him and killed him in his bedroom. Is that common? A bear doing all that?” The sarcasm was evident in Dean’s voice. 

“Depends how pissed off it is, I guess. Look, the Randolphs live way up in high country. You got trout runs that'll make a grown man weep and bears.” The sheriff really didn’t like us.

“Right. Now, what about Mrs. Randolph? The file says she saw the whole thing.” Sam dug deeper.

“Yes, she did. My heart goes out to that poor woman.” The sheriff didn’t sound too heartbroken.

“She said bear?” Dean prodded.

“Kathy Randolph went through a hell of a trauma. She's confused.” The sheriff talked slowly, as if to a small child.

“What did she  _ say _ ?”

\----------------------

“No, it must have been a bear. I mean, what else could it have been?” 

Sam had gotten us an interview with Mrs. Randolph. 

“Mrs. Randolph, what did you think it was?” Dean was far nicer to the lady than he had been with the sheriff.

“Uh, no, I remember clearly now. It was definitely a bear.”

“We're sure it was.” Sam was also being kinder. “But see, it helps us to hear every angle. So just tell us what you thought you saw.”

She shook her head. “Well, it's impossible, but I could have sworn I saw the Incredible Hulk.”

“The Incredible Hulk?” Dean almost snorted. I kicked him under the table. 

“I told you it was crazy.” Mrs. Randolph put her head in her hands.

Dean glanced at me before asking. “You, um Bana or Norton?”

Mrs. Randolph raised her head a little. “Oh, no. Those movies were terrible. The TV Hulk.”

“Lou Ferrigno? The spiky-hair Lou Ferrigno?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“Huh.   
  


“You think I'm crazy.”

“No, it's just, Is- Is there, uh?” Dean didn’t know how to phrase the unusual question. “Would there be any reason that Lou Ferrigno, the Incredible Hulk, um would have a grudge against your husband?”

“No. No.”

\---------------------

“Hey. Find anything?”

Sam came back to the motel room where Dean and I were surfing the internet for information.

“Well, I saw the house.”

“And?”

“And there is a giant 8-foot-wide hole where the front door used to be. Almost like, uh -”

“A Hulk-size hole?” Dean finished. 

“Maybe. What do you got?”

“Well, turns out that Bill Randolph had quite the temper.” Dean turned to screen around so Sam could see. “He's got two counts of spousal battery, bar brawls and court-ordered anger-management sessions.” He snorted. You might say you wouldn't like him when he's angry.”

Sam huffed. “So, a hothead getting killed by TV's greatest hothead. Kind of sounds like just desserts, doesn't it? Hm. It's all starting to make sense.”

“How is it starting to make sense?” Dean wasn’t seeing it.

“Well, I found something else at the crime scene.” Sam reached into his bag and pulled out a handful of something. “Candy wrappers. Lots of them. Just desserts, sweet tooth, screwing with people before you kill them.”

Dean connected the dots. “We're dealing with the Trickster, aren't we?”

Sam nodded. “Sure looks like.”

“Good.” Dean smiled. “Been wanting to gank that mother’ since the Mystery Spot.”

“You sure?” Sam sounded uncertain.

“Yeah, I'm sure.”

“No, I mean, are you sure you wanna kill him?”

Dean picked up the wrappers. “Son of a bitch didn't think twice about icing me a thousand times.”

“No, I mean, I'm just saying.-”

Dean cut Sam off. “What are you saying? You don't wanna kill him, then what?”

“- Talk to him.”

That threw Dean for a loop. “What?”

“Look, think about it, Dean. He's one of the most powerful creatures we've ever met. Maybe we can use him.”

“For what?”

“Okay,” Sam sat down on the end of the bed. “Trickster's like a Hugh Hefner type, right? Wine, women, song. Maybe he doesn't want the party to end. Maybe he hates this angels-and-demons stuff as much as we do. Maybe he'll help us.”

Dean crossed his arms. “You're serious? Ally with the Trickster? A bloody, violent monster, and you wanna be Facebook friends with him? Nice, Sammy.”

Sam threw his hands up. “The world is gonna end, Dean. We don't have the luxury of a moral stand. I'm just saying it's worth a shot. That's all. If it doesn't work, we'll kill him.”

“How are we gonna find the guy?” Dean sounded reasonably convinced. 

“Well, he never takes just one victim, right? He'll show.”

\--------------------

Dean was sharpening a wooden stake as we listened to a police radio. Soon, a call came in.

“Dispatch? I got a possible 187 out here at the old paper mill on Route 6.”

“ Hey.” Sma got Dean’s attention.

“Roger that. What are you looking at there?”

“ Honestly, Walt, I wouldn't even know how to describe what I'm seeing. Just send everybody.”

“ All right, stay calm. Stay by your car. Help's on the way.”

“That sounds weird.” Dean commented as Sam turned off the radio. 

“Weird enough to be our guy?”

\------------------

“There was a murder here. And there's no police cars, there's nobody. How does that look to you?”

The address was an abandoned warehouse. Dean was right. There were no other people in sight. 

“Crappy.” Sam replied as Dean handed out stakes.

We all found a door and rushed into the warehouse. 

Only, that’s not where we ended up. Instead of seeing an empty space, we were in a hospital. Sam and Dean were in doctor coats, and I was in nurse’s scrubs.

I realized where we were. ‘ _ Yes! Changing Channels. One of my favorite episode.’ _

“What the hell?” Dean looked as Sam and I.

But before we could respond, two nurses passed us. They looked flirtatiously at the boys.“- Doctor.” “Doctor.” They ignored me as if I wasn’t even there.

“Doctor?” Sam looked confused. Dean just looked alarmed. He opened the closet behind us to find a doctor and nurse making out. He shut the door.

Another nurse came over, and got Sam’s attention. “Doctor?” She slapped him. 

“Ow. What?” Sam was shocked. 

“Seriously?!”

“Seriously?” Sam repeated.

The nurse continued. “ You're brilliant, you know that? And a coward. You're a brilliant coward.”

“Uh, What are you talking about?”

She slapped him again. “As if you don't know.” She stormed off. 

Sam turned back to us. Dean watched the nurse leave.“I don't believe this.”

“What?” Sam turned to his brother in confusion.

“That was Dr. Piccolo.” Dean started walking forward.

“Who?”

“Dr. Ellen Piccolo. The sexy yet earnest doctor at-” He caught sight of the name of the hospital. “Seattle Mercy Hospital.”

“Uh, Dean. What the hell are you talking about?” Sam was utterly confused. I giggled to myself.

Dean nudged his brother in the arm. “The doctor get-ups. The sexy interns. The "seriously's.” It all makes sense.”

“What makes sense? What's going on?” Sam really didn’t like being in the dark.

Dean stopped walking. “We're in Dr. Sexy, M.D. Dude, what the hell?” 

Sam shook his head. “I don't know.”

“No, seriously. What the hell?”

“I don't know.”

“One theory. Any theory.” Dean just wanted an explanation. 

“Uh, the Trickster trapped us in TV Land,” Sam pulled out of his head. 

Dean scoffed. “That's your theory? That's stupid.”

Sam rolled his eyes. “You're the one who said we're on Dr. Sexy, M.D.”

“Yeah, but TV Land isn't  _ TV Land _ . There's actors and lights and crew members.This looks real.” Dean gestured around us. 

“It can't be. Dean, how can this possibly be real?”

“I don't know, all right?” 

An Asian doctor walked past us. “Doctors.”

Dean pointed at the woman’s retreating back. “But there goes Dr. Wang, the sexy but arrogant heart surgeon.” Dean spotted someone else. “And there's Johnny Drake. Oh, he's not even alive. He's a ghost in the mind of- of her.” A lady stopped and talked ot the man. “The sexy but neurotic doctor over there.”

“So this show has ghosts? Why?” Sam screwed his face up in confusion.

“I don't know. It is compelling.” Dean shrugged. 

Sam glanced at his brother. “I thought you said weren't a fan.”

“I'm not. I'm not.” Dean turned around and took a sharp breath. “Oh, boy. It's him. It's Dr. Sexy.”

The man approached us and stopped in front of Dean. Another set of ‘doctor’ went around. 

Dr. Sexy started in on Dean. “You wanna give me one good reason why you defied my direct order to do the experimental face transplant on Mrs. Beale?”

Dean looked down and back up. “One reason? Mm. Sure.” He pushed the man into the wall in an arm bar. “You're not Dr. Sexy.”

“You're crazy.” The man stared back.

“Really? Because I swore part of what makes Dr. Sexy, sexy, is the fact that he wears cowboy boots, not tennis shoes.”

Sam scoffed. “Yeah. You're not a fan.”

Dean glanced back. “It's a guilty pleasure.”

“Call security.” Dr. Sexy told the nurses watching the scene.

“Yeah, go ahead, pal. “ Dean narrowed his eyes. “See, we know what you are.”

At that, the people and noise around us froze. Dr. Sexy transformed into Loki. “You guys are getting better.” 

“Get us the hell out of here.” Sam demanded.

Loki pushed Dean of of him. “Or what? Don't see your wooden stakes, big guy.”

Dean realized something. “That was you on the police scanner, right? And this is a trick.”

“Hello? Trickster.” The being pointed to himself. “Come on. I heard you two yahoos, plus your mystic friend, were in town. How could I resist?” 

“Where the hell are we?” Dean really didn’t appreciate Loki’s humor.

Loki just laughed and gestured to the scene around us. “You like it? It's all homemade. My own sets, my own actors. Call it my own little idiot box.”

“How do we get out?”

“That, my friend, is the $64 question.” He moved away slightly.

“Whatever. “Sam waved his hand. “We just- We need to talk to you. We need your help.”

“Hmm. Let me guess. You two muttonheads broke the world and you want me to sweep up your mess.”

“Please. Just five minutes. Hear us out,” Sam pleaded. 

Loki thought for a second. “Sure. Tell you what. Survive the next 24 hours, we'll talk.”

“Survive what?” Dean tried to get more information.

“The game.” 

“What game?”

“You're in it.” The trickster didn’t give it to him.

“How do we play?”

“You're playing it.”

“What are the rules?”

That time, Loki didn’t answer. He merely winked and teleported away.

“Oh, son of a bitch,” Dean groused. The people started moving again.

I turned to the brothers. “I’m going to go see if I can get some answers out of him. Be back in a few. Don’t die.” 

Before they could protest, I picked up on the energy trail that had been left behind and flashed away. 

\----------------------------

Gabriel was sitting on a picnic blanket in a park. Kids were playing and laughing. It was sunny and clear. He looked up at me as I walked over.

“How did you get here?”

I smirked and sat down. “Mystic, remember. Now, since we have some alone time, we need to talk… Gabriel”

The being jerked his eyes to me at the name drop. “How do you know that name.”

I sighed and held my hands up. “Relax. I’m not going to out you. I just want to talk. You’re my favorite angel you know. Well, besides Castiel.”

That seemed to calm Gabriel down somewhat. He laughed lightly. “Yeah, little Cassie is really something.”

I smiled as well and laid down, partly to be less intimidating, partly because I liked the sun on my face.

“He is, though he’s not the reason I’m here.” I pulled a sucker from my pocket space and offered it to Gabriel. He took it after a few seconds. I popped one of my own in my mouth as well.

“I just wanted to hear your side of the whole story, is all. I mean, you were there through everything, and are the archangel most likely to not be biased.”

“You really want to hear my perspective?” He sounded hesitant. I doubted anyone had every asked for his side before.

I nodded. “Yeah, I do. And trust me, I won’t judge. I really just want to be your friend, actually.”

Gabriel nodded slowly, then he started to speak. He told me the tale about his creation, his brothers, Michael and Lucifer’s fight, leaving heaven, and even some stories of Cas as a fledgling. 

It was interesting, and not completely like the stories I’d heard before. By the time he was done, we had both relaxed a bit.

When I checked the time though, I stood up. “Well, I think it’s time to get back to the boys, wouldn’t you, Gabe?”

The archangel nodded and got up as well. “Let’s go. I can feel Cas getting near them, again. He’s been searching all day.” He offer me his arm, then we flashed away together.

\---------------------------

We appeared in a motel room to a round of artificial cheers. It sounded like we were in a comedy show. There was a comically large sandwich on the table. Sam and Dean were looking at Castiel, who had just gotten thrown into a wall by Gabe’s powers.

“Hello!” Gabriel was beaming. He bowed to the invisible audience. “Thank you. Thank you.” 

Cas got up from the ground. He had a piece of duct tape over his mouth. 

“Hi, Castiel.” Gabe was genuinely glad to see the younger angel. He had confessed to me that Cas had always been the closest of his many siblings. But, that didn’t mean Gabe wanted the other angel there at the particular moment. So, with a wave of his hand, Gabe sent Castiel away.

Sam and Dean turned to Gabe.

“You know him?” Dean gestured to where Castiel had just been.

“Where did you just send him,” Sam added. 

Gabe chuckled. “Relax. He'll live… Maybe.”

I knew Gabe wasn’t serious, but the boys didn’t. Dean really didn’t like the ‘threat’ to our friend. 

“All right, you know what? I'm done with the monkey dance, okay? We get it.”

Gabriel snorted. “Yeah? Get what, hotshot?”

Dean gestured between his brother and himself. “ Playing our roles, right? - That's your game.”

“That's half the game,” Gabe corrected him. I was just sitting back and enjoying the show. 

“What's the other half,” Sam asked suspiciously. 

The self-proclaimed trickster pointed to the ‘audience.’ “Play your roles out there.”

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“You know… ” Gabriel weedled. “ Sam, starring as Lucifer. Dean, starring as Michael. Your celebrity deathmatch.” He added jazz-hands. “Play your roles.” 

“You want us to say yes to those sons of bitches?” Sam sounded almost offended.

“Hells, yeah! Let's light this candle.” I could tell Gabe was putting up a front for the boys. He didn’t really want the end of the world. 

Again, Dean didn’t know that. “We do that, the world will end.”

“Yeah? And whose fault is that? Who popped Lucifer out of the box, hm?” Gabe got serious. “Look, it's started. You started it. It can't be stopped. So let's get it over with.”

“Heaven or hell. Which side you on?” Dean was done with the playing around. 

“I'm not on either side.”

Dean scoffed. “Yeah, right. You're grabbing ankle for Michael or Lucifer. Which one is it?”

That hit a nerve with the archangel. “You listen to me, you arrogant dick. I don't work for either of those SOBs, believe me.”

“Mm. No, you're somebody's bitch.”

Gabriel shoved Dean into the wall and held him there. “Don't you ever, ever presume to know what I am.” He shoved Dean away. “Now, listen very closely. Here's what's gonna happen. You're gonna suck it up, accept your responsibilities and play the roles that destiny has chosen for you.” 

“And if we don't,” Sam challenged the archangel. (Not that he knew it) 

“Then you'll stay here in TV Land, forever. Three hundred channels and nothing's on.”

I stopped Gabe as he went to snap his fingers. “I’m going to stay with them. Okay?”

The archangel nodded at me. For safety, I added, “Don’t add me to your little shows.” I fixed him with a friendly glare, but I knew he could tell I was serious. 

Before Sam and Dean could question me, Gabe snapped his fingers, and I felt the wave of his power. 

\----------------------------

The boys and I materialized at night, besides a crime scene. Sam and Dean were dressed in their normal Feds’ outfits, with one addition. They were both wearing sunglasses, even though it was night. I was unaffected, thankfully. Otherwise, I would have had a feathery butt to kick. 

“Oh, come on,” Dean complained. 

“So, what do you think,” One of the CSI’s came over to us.

Dean snapped. “What do I think? I think go screw yourself, that's what I think.” He really didn’t want to play anymore games. 

The CSI gave Dean a weird look. Sam forced a smile and turned Dean away. “Uh, could you give us a sec, please? Thanks.” Once the CSI left, Sam turned to his brother. “You gotta calm down.”

Dean frowned. “Calm down?! I am wearing sunglasses at night. You know who does that? No-talent douche bags. I hate this game. I hate that we're in a procedural cop show, wanna know why? Because I hate procedural cop shows. There's like 300 of them. They're all the same. It's, "Ooh plane crashed here." He waved his hand. “Oh, shut up.” 

During Dean’s rant, Sam had been looking over the people in the crowd around us. “Hey.” He pointed to a cop eating a sucker.

Dean turned and looked at the cop as well. “What?”

“Check out sweet tooth over there.”

“You think that's him?” Dean glanced back and forth between the two men. 

Sam nodded and started to walk towards the body. “Just, uh, follow my lead.”

Dean and I followed as well. Him for his role-playing, and me for the amusement. We approached the body and the cops surrounding it. 

“You, uh- You okay?” The CSI looked a Dean. 

“Yeah.” Sam redirected the conversation. “What do we got?”

The other man looked back down a t the body. “Well, aside from the ligature marks around his neck, he has what appears to be a roll of quarters jammed down his throat.”

“Well, I say jackpot.” Sam replied in a deepened voice. He was laying on the ‘stuck up fed’ vibe thick.

The CSI rolled with it. “Mm. Also, there is a stab wound to the lower abdomen there.” He gestured to the entrance of the puncture with his sucker.

Dean took the next answer. He also deepened his voice. “ Well, I say no guts, no glory. Get that guy a TUMS. Gutter ball.” 

“Good one, guys.” The CSI chuckled.

By this time, I was almost falling over from repressed laughter. The boys shared a glance, then Dean walked closer to the laughing official. He pulled a wooden stake out of his sleeve and stabbed the CSI in the heart. 

The man fell to the ground, dead. The cop behind the boys started to laugh. Sam, Dean, and I turned around to face him as he transformed into the Trickster.

“You got the wrong guy, idiot.” Gabe was so smug.

“Did we?” Dean replied. 

I could see Sam coming up behind Gabe with another stake. As it was really unnecessary for Gabriel to get stabbed, given it wouldn’t kill him anyways, I decided to put a stop to it. In a split second, I went into the boys’ minds and shifted their senses a little. So, when Sam wen to stab Gabe, both the boys saw, felt, and heard him get stabbed. In reality, the stake had gone just to the right of the archangel’s chest, under his arm.

I gently brushed Gabe’s mind.  _ ‘Get out of here for now. Play another trick later.’  _ I felt his acknowledgement, as I made his ‘body’ fall to the ground. 

Around the boys and me, the park flickered out to reveal the warehouse the whole fiasco started in. Dean and Sam sighed and made for the door. 

They questioned me on the way back to the motel. 

“So, what did you learn from the Trickster, Jade,” Sam started. 

I shrugged and smirked. “We just talked. What about? I have only one word. Spoilers”

Both men huffed at the unsatisfactory answer, but they knew they wouldn’t get anymore out of me.

\----------------------

“ I'm worried, man. What that son of a bitch did to Cas. You know, where is he?” Dean was talking to Sam as he brushed his teeth. I felt the wave of power as Sam disappeared from the motel room. 

“Sam? Where are you?” Dean had finished up with his teeth and figured out that Sam wasn’t in the room anymore. “Jade, where did Sam go?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. I was reading.” It wasn’t a complete lie, as I  _ had _ been reading.

Dean grabbed up his keys and made for the door. I set my book down and followed him. He tried to call Sam on his cell, but all Dean got was the answering machine. 

“Sam, it's me. Where the hell did you go?” 

We both got in the impala. Once Dean closed the door, Sam’s voice called out. “ Dean?”

The elder Winchester looked around the car. No one besides me was in there. “Sam? Where are you?”

“I don't know.”

Dean spotted the extra console by the radio. It had lights on it that fluxuated as Sam talked. 

“Oh, crap. I don't think we killed the Trickster.”

\-----------------------

“Okay, stake didn't work. So, what, this another trick?” Dean was driving the car/Sam on our way to the park that was close by. We were trying to formulate a plan. 

“I don't know. Maybe the stake didn't work because it's not a Trickster.” Talking to thin air, but getting a reply reminded me of Jarvis. It made me nostalgic.

“What do you mean?” Dean was thinking as well.

“You heard Cas. He said this thing was too powerful to be a Trickster.” I watched the lights go up and down to Sam’s voice. 

“Notice the way he looked at Cas? Like he knew him.” Dean was thinking out loud. 

“And how pissed he got when you brought up Michael and Lucifer.” Sam added his own thoughts. 

That sparked something with Dean. “Son of a bitch.”

“What?” Sam couldn’t read his brother’s facial expressions in his motorized-state. 

“I think I know what we're dealing with,” Dean clarified.

I looked at the younger man, though he looked older than my physical body. “Bingo, Dean.”

\--------------------

“Dean? That, uh, feels really uncomfortable.”

We had made it to the state park and Dean was putting away some tools in the trunk, which Sam could apparently feel. 

Dean slammed the trunk shut. 

“Ow. Are you sure this is gonna work?”

“No, but I have no other ideas.” He shook his head and walked to the front of the car. Dean started yelling at the sky. “ All right, you son of a bitch! Uncle! We'll do it!”

“Should I honk,” Sam asked helpfully. I started to laugh again. 

Gabriel appeared and looked at Sam-as -a-car. “Wow, Sam get a load of the rims on you.”

“Eat me,” came the computerized voice of the younger Winchester brother.

Gabe clapped his hands together and faced Dean. “Okay, boys. Ready to go quietly?”

Dean took a step back. “ Whoa, whoa, whoa, not so fast. Nobody's going anywhere until Sam has opposable thumbs.”

“What's the difference? Satan's gonna ride his ass one way or another.”    
  


I shot the archangel a look from behind Dean.  _ ‘Gabe, playtime’s over’ _

The semi-immortal being rolled his eyes, but snapped his fingers. The Impala’s door opened, and out stepped a very human Sam. “Happy?”

Dean still didn’t smile. “ Tell me one thing. Why didn't the stake kill you?”

“I  _ am _ the Trickster,” Gabe stated as if it explained everything. 

The boys weren’t buying the act anymore. “Or maybe you're not.” Sam flicked open a lighter and threw it to the ground. It ignited the oil on the gravel, creating a ring around Gabriel. “Maybe you've always been an angel.”

Gabe tried to play it off. “Ha-ha-ha. A  _ what _ ? Somebody slip a mickey in your power shake, kid?”

Dean was done with games. “I'll tell you what. You just jump out of the holy fire and we'll call it our mistake.”   
  


Gabriel chuckled for a few seconds, but then the world flickered away to show the warehouse again. He was still in the ring of holy fire.

“Well played, boys. Well played. Where'd you get the holy oil?” Gabriel was a lot more serious then. 

I flashed to his side, inside the fire ring, as support for the coming conversation. Sam and Dean gave me looks, but didn’t question my change in location, too busy getting answers.

Dean chuckled. “Well, you might say we pulled it out of Sam's ass.” Sam shot his brother an unamused glare. 

Gabe broke the tension. “Where'd I screw up?”

“You didn't.” Dean shook his head. “But nobody but Jade gets the jump on Cas like you did.”

“Mostly, it was the way you talked about Armageddon,” Sam added. 

“Meaning?”

“Well, call it personal experience. Nobody gets that angry unless they're talking about their own family.” Dean explained to the holy being. 

Sam nodded along and then asked, “So which one are you? Grumpy, Sneezy or Douchey?”

I took a step forward then, pulling the boys’ eyes to me. “Gabriel. His name is Gabriel.”

That threw the boys for a loop. Sam turned back to the trapped archangel. “ Gabriel? The archangel?”

“Guilty.” Gabe nodded.

“Okay, Gabriel. How does an archangel become a Trickster?” Dean wanted an explanation. 

“My own private witness protection. I skipped out of heaven, had a face transplant, carved out my own little corner of the world, ‘till you two screwed it all up.” Gabriel frowned. He was almost pouting. I thought it was adorable. 

“What did Daddy say when you joined the pagans?” Dean was trying to get a rise out of the archangel. 

It was working. “ _ Daddy _ doesn't say anything about anything.” 

“Then what happened? Why'd you ditch?” Sam question was slightly more innocent curiosity. 

Dean butted in before Gabe could reply, though. “Well, do you blame him? His brothers are heavyweight douche nozzles.”

That was it for Gabe. “Shut your cake hole,” He snapped. “You don't know anything about my family. I loved my father, my brothers. Loved them, but watching them turn on each other? Tear at each other's throats? I couldn't bear it, okay? So I left. And now it's happening all over again.” By the end of it, I could hear the sadness in the archangel’s voice.

Sam caught it too and tried to use it as an advantage. “Then help us stop it.”

Gabe shook his head. “It can't be stopped.”

“You wanna see the end of the world?” Dean still angry.

Gabriel felt the same, if for different reasons. “I want it to be over. I have to sit back and watch my own brothers kill each other, thanks to you. Heaven, hell, I don't care who wins! “ He threw his hands up. “I just want it to be over!”

“It doesn't have to be like that!” Now, Sam’s voice was raising.” There has to be some way to pull the plug.”

“You do not know my family.” Gabriel laughed sarcastically. “What you guys call the apocalypse, I used to call Sunday dinner. That's why there's no stopping this, because this isn't about a war. It's about two brothers that loved each other and betrayed each other. You think you'd be able to relate.”

“What are you talking about?” Dean had calmed down some. 

Gabe whistled. “You sorry sons of bitches. Why do you think you two are the vessels? Think about it.” He gestured to Dean. “Michael, the big brother, loyal to an absent father.” He gestured to Sam. “ And Lucifer, the little brother, rebellious of Daddy's plan. You were born to this, boys. It's your destiny. It was always you. As it is in heaven, so it must be on Earth. One brother has to kill the other.”

“What the hell are you saying?” Dean’s anger was rising again. 

Gabriel rolled his eyes.“Why do you think I've always taken such an interest in you? Because from the moment Dad flipped on the lights around here we knew it was all gonna end with you. Always.”

Dean took a second to digest that information. “No. That's not gonna happen.”

“I'm sorry but it is.” Gabe sounded almost sincere. “ Guys, I wish this were a TV show. Easy answers, endings wrapped up in a bow. But this is real. And it's gonna end bloody for all of us. That's just how it's gotta be.”

Sam and Dean didn’t have a good reply. 

After a few seconds of silence, Gabe clapped his hands together. “ So, boys, now what? Stare at each other for the rest of eternity?”

Dean shook his head. “First, you're gonna bring Cas back from wherever you stashed him.”

“Oh, am I?”

His voice got a dangerous tone to it. “Yeah. Or we're going to dunk you in some holy oil and deep-fry ourselves an archangel.”

I looked up at Gabe at that and caught his eyes.  _ ‘I wouldn’t let them. But, you really should return Castiel to the boys.’ _

Gabriel rolled his eyes, but snapped his fingers. Castiel appeared besides Dean, not looking too worse for wear. 

“Cas, you okay,” Dean checked. 

Castiel nodded. “I'm fine.” He turned to his big brother. “ Hello, Gabriel.”

Gabe gave Cas a genuine smile, “Hey, bro,” before his tone turned mocking. “ How's the search for Daddy going? Let me guess. Awful.”

That was the last straw for Dean. “ Okay, we're out of here. Come on, Sam.” He turned away. I flashed out of the circle and to the boys’ sides.

Gabe chuckled nervously. “ Uh, okay. Guys? So- So, what? Huh? You're just gonna- You're gonna leave me here forever?” 

Dean turned back towards the archangel. “No. We're not, because we don't screw with people the way you do. And for the record this isn't about some prizefight between your brothers!

Or some destiny that can't be stopped! This is about you being too afraid to stand up to your family! Don't say I never did anything for you.” Dean reached for the fire alarm. 

Before he could trigger the sprinklers, I grabbed his arm. “I’ll let him out. You go, I’ll be out soon.”

Dean gave me a glance, but he nodded and left the warehouse. 

I turned back to the captive archangel. “Sorry about that, you needed to hear what they had to say.”

Gabe frowned at me. “So you agree with him?”

I shrugged. “ Some of it, but I wouldn’t have been quite so blunt. Point is, it’s something to think about.” I softened a little. “But for now, go relax at one of you hidden places. Also, don’t bother the boys for a while at least. I couldn’t tell you what they would do if you mess with them too soon.” I smile and held a hand out. I gently extinguished the fire ring. 

Right before Gabriel flew away, I held a hand up. “Oh, one last thing.” I smiled. “You totally owe me for stopping you from getting stabbed. I know it wouldn’t have killed you, but I did save you from a lot of pain.”

Gabe just smirked and flew away. Though, once I got in the back of the Impala, I found a small basket filled with my favorite types of candy. I grinned as I popped a Hershey Kiss in my mouth. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All recognizable characters are the property of the CW. This work is non-beta’d, all mistakes are mine. Feel free to tell me about them in the comments, but be respectful. 
> 
> Phasing- Density Shifting  
> Cloaking- Turning Invisible  
> Flashing- teleporting

“Uh, Dean.” Sam looked over his shoulder at all the impalas parked in the lot. They all looked very similar to Baby. 

The boys and I had gotten an urgent text from Chuck, giving us a location to come to. We had driven all night to get there. It was a hotel lodge.

Sam and Dean rushed in the building, but I followed at a more sedate pace. I caught up with them at the doorway. They had paused at the sight before them. 

Everywhere, people were dressed like typical hunters. There were even some dressed as monsters the boys had hunted. People were mingling and drinking from a bar tucked into a corner. 

Dean was the first to spot Chuck. Chuck was at a standing table looking over some papers. We made our way over. 

“Chuck. There you are.” Dean’s voice startled Chuck out of his thoughts.

“Guys?” He looked surprised to see us.

“What's going on?” 

Chuck stuttered. “Uh Nothing. You know, just I'm just kind of hanging. What are you guys doing here?”

“You told us to come.” Dean was angry at the apparent waste of time.

“Uh, No, I didn't.” Chuck denied, looking utterly confused.

Sam got his phone out. “Yeah, you did. You texted me. This address. "Life or death situation." Any of this ringing a bell?”

“I didn't send you a text.” I could tell Chuck really didn’t know.

“We drove all night!” Dean barked.

“I'm sorry. I don't understand what could-” Chuck caught sight of something, or someone, over Dean’s shoulder. “Oh, no.”

“What?” Sam turned around just in time to see Becky.

“Sam? You made it.” She rushed up to the taller Winchester.

“Oh, uh Becky, right?” Sam didn’t seem happy.

She didn’t notice. “Oh. You remembered. You've been thinking about me. It's okay. I can't get you out of my head, either.” Her adoring look was there, full force. 

Chuck got her back on track. “Did you take my phone?”

“I just borrowed it from your pants.” She went back to staring at Sam.

“Becky.” Chuck actually managed to sound disapproving.

Becky turned to the writer. “What? They're gonna wanna see it.”

“See what?” Sam and Dean said in unison.

“Oh, my God.” Becky clapped her hands together. “I love it when they talk at the same time.”

Before anything else could be said, a man came up to the table. “Hey, Chuck. Come on, pal, it's showtime.”

Chuck threw an apologetic look over his shoulder as he walked a way. “Guys, I'm sorry for everything.”

Sam, Dean, and I followed Chuck through the room. A man walked past us. “Ha-ha-ha. Hey, Dean. Looking good.”

“Who the hell are you?” Dean was not amused.

“I'm Dean too.” He gestured to his partner, who was dressed like Sam. The man gave Dean a weird look, but moved on. 

A man dressed as the scarecrow walked past as well. “Uh-oh. It's Sam and Dean. I'm in trouble now.” He growled and waved a plastic sythe in their faces. “Have fun, you two.”

“What?” Now Dean was the one looking confused. 

Both boys took better looks around the room, spotting all the cosplayers and boothes full of Supernatural merchandise.

“Becky, what is this?” Sam turned to the other woman. 

“ It's awe~some.” She sang. “A Supernatural convention. The first ever.” 

Becky dragged us to a large meeting room. Inside, there were about five or six rows of people all dressed as something supernatural. A man was onstage announcing the convention’s agenda. 

“... 3:45 in the Magnolia Room, we have the panel: Frightened Little Boy: The Secret Life of Dean. And at 4:30, there's The Homoerotic Subtext of Supernatural. Oh, and of course, the big hunt starts at 7 p.m. Sharp.”

All the people cheered. Sam and Dean just looked confused. I was having a hard time keeping my amusement quiet. 

“... Right now, I'd like to introduce the man himself. The creator and the writer of the Supernatural books the one, the only Carver Edlund!” 

Chuck came on to the mini-stage, looking very uncomfortable. “Okay. Okay, good. This isn't nearly as awkward as l- Ahem.” He took a sip from a water bottle. “Dry mouth. Ahem. Okay. Uh, Ahem. So I guess, questions?” People raised their hands, and Chuck pick one. “You.”

The person was the same man we ran into earlier, the one dressed like Sam. “Hey, Mr. Edlund. Big fan. Okay, I was just wondering where'd you come up with Sam and Dean in the first place?”

“Oh, uh, yeah, l It just came to me,” Was Chuck’s lame answer.

The man seemed to accept it though. “Okay.”

“Yeah. The hook man.” Chuck picked another person, who was dressed as the Hook Man.

“Uh, ja. Why, in every fight scene Sam and Dean are having their gun or knife knocked away by the bad guy? Why don't they keep it on some kind of bungee?” The man was clearly skeptical of the whole plot line.

Chuck blanked for a minute before replying, “Yeah, I really don't know.”

The hook man kept talking. “Ja, follow up. Why can't Sam and Dean be telling Ruby is evil? I mean, she is clearly manipulating Sam in some kind of moral lapse. It's obvious, nein?” He seemed determined to poke at every plot hole in the series.

The questions got Becky riled up. “Hey! If you don't like the books, don't read them, Fritz.”

Chuck tried to calm everyone down before a fight could break out. “Okay, okay, just -Okay. It's okay. So… Next question. Yeah, you.” 

That time, the person wasn’t cosplaying as anything in particular, just a hunter. “Yeah, at the end of the last book, Dean goes to hell. So, what happens next?”

Chuck brightened slightly. “Oh, well, there lies an announcement, actually. You're all gonna find out. Thanks to a wealthy Scandinavian investor, we're gonna start publishing again.”

At that, everyone in the room started cheering and gave Chuck a standing ovation. On the other hand, the boys looked positively murderous. 

\----------------

After the pannel, Dean, Sam and I found Chuck. He was sitting on a plush chair next to Becky. Chuck jumped slightly at our arrival. 

“Excuse us.” Dean plowed right in. “In case you haven't noticed, our plates are kind of full, okay?! Finding the Colt. Hunting the devil. We don't have time for this!”

“Hey, I didn't call you.” Chuck thought Dean meant the convention.

Sam clarified. “He means the books, Chuck. Why are you publishing more books?”

“Um, for food and shelter?” Chuck said it as if it explained everything. Which, I had to say, it kind of did.

Dean didn’t see it that way though. “Who gave you the rights to our life story?”

Now Chuck was getting mad. “An archangel and I didn't want it.” He snapped back.

“Deal's off, okay,” Sam butted in. “No more books. Our lives are not for public consumption.”

Chuck pursed his lips before turning to Becky. “Becky would you excuse us for just a second?”

He got up and walked away. The boys and I followed him. He led us to an empty hall, then turned around. “You guys know what I do for a living?”

“Yeah, Chuck, we know.” Sam rolled his eyes.

“Could you tell me? Because I don't. I'm not a good writer.” He was skittish, but also logical, in a way. “I've got no marketable skills. I'm not some hero who can just hit the road and fight monsters, okay? Until the world ends, I gotta live, all right? The Supernatural books are all I've got. What else do you want me to do?”

Before Sam and Dean could reply, we heard a woman’s scream coming from upstairs. The boys rushed off, with me following them. Behind us, I could hear Chuck. 

“ No, guys. Wait.”

\----------------

“Hey, are you okay?”

Sam got to the lady first. She was dressed as a maid. “I think so.”

“What happened?” Other people form the convention came up behind us.

“I saw a ghost.” The maid explained. All the people started clamoring for answers.

“A ghost? Excuse me?”

“Could you tell us what it looked like?”

Dean held them back. “Leave this to grown-ups.”

The maid continued in what was supposed to be a spooky voice. “A woman. She was in an old-fashioned dress. Really old. Like a schoolmarm or something.”

“Did she say something to you?” One of the men asked over Dean’s shoulder. 

“Okay, gather close,” The maid gestured to the crowd. “Everybody, for a terrifying tale of terror.” 

That clued in Sam ad Dean, who rolled their eyes and pushed through the crowd. Behind us, I could hear the maid continue her story. 

“... I saw a ghost. None other than the ghost of Leticia Gore herself. I was on the third floor, getting ice for a guest…. ”

“Ooh. The LARPing's started.” Becky had followed us and had an excited look on her face. 

“The -What is that again?” Dean had forgotten what it was from how we had met Chuck.

I explained again. “Live Action Role Playing. A game. The convention puts it on.” Becky nodded along with my explanation, then handed Sam a piece of paper. 

Sam read it out loud. “Dad's journal. Dear Sam and Dean, this hotel is haunted. You must hunt down the ghost. Interview witnesses, discover clues, and find the bones. First team to do so wins a $50 gift card to Sizzler. Love, Dad." 

Becky smiled widely. “You guys are so gonna win.”

\---------------------------

The three of us had made our way down to the main floor, just in time to hear the manager of the hotel telling several LARPing ‘agents’ about the history of the hotel. 

“ … as manager of this fine establishment I can assure you that it is indeed haunted. This building was once an orphanage, run by mean old Leticia Gore. One hundred years ago this very night Miss Gore went insane and butchered four little boys before killing herself. Now, folks say that the souls of those poor little boys are trapped here and that the evil spirit of Miss Gore punishes them to this very day.

Dean turned away as the crowd dispersed. “Well, that's just about all the community theater I can take.”

Sam nodded in agreement. Yeah, this cannot get any weirder.”

That was true until the two men from earlier stopped in front of us, quoting lines from the books in fake deep voices.

“Dad said… He said I may have to kill you.”

“ Kill me? What the hell does that mean?”

“I don't know.”

Dean’s eyes widened and he turned to Sam at the same time Sam turned to Dean. “Oh. I need a drink.” They walked off towards the bar. 

I smirked and followed them. There was one viewpoint I shared with Becky. It awesome when they spoke at the same time. 

\------------------

The three of us had been at the bar a little while when a lady came up next to Dean. Based on her outfit, she was an actor for the LARP game. 

“How’re you doing?” Dean tried.

Sam and I exchanged amused glances, then turned back to Dean to watch the exchange.

The lady was on her phone and didn’t even look up. “Busy.”

Dean tried again. “Well, you sure look lovely tonight. Especially for a dead chick.”

The lady still didn’t look up. “Buddy, I have heard that line seventeen times today. And all from dudes wearing MacGyver jackets.” She finally looked up and her expression changed. She smiled. “But you seem different.”

“How so?” Dean smirked. 

“Well, you don't seem scared of women.” The lady smiled. 

But, before the conversation could go any farther, one of the cosplayers burst out of a side hall with his friend. He was yelling loudly. “For the last time, I'm not making this up, okay? She's upstairs, a real, live, dead ghost.”

Dean, Sam, and I shared looks. Dean turned back to the lady. “Excuse me.” 

As we walked up to the two cosplayers, we caught some of their discussion.

“I'm sure it was just one of the actors.”

“Who beat the crap out of me and then vanished?!”

“You saw something?” Sam started off the questioning. 

The man didn’t take it well. “Look, this isn't part of the game, jerk.” He turned back to his friend. “I'm getting out of here, Tim, you should do the same.” He stormed off. 

His friend rushed after him. “Alex, wait. Hey, come back.”

Dean turned to Sam and me. “What do you think?”

Sam shook his head. “I don't think that guy's a good enough actor to be acting.”

\-------------------------

We had made our way back to the deskman, hoping he could give us more information.

“Excuse us. Mind if we ask you a few questions?” Dean asked. 

The deskman barely looked up. “I don't have time to play Star Wars, guys. Go ask the guy in the ascot.”

Dean exchanged looks with Sam, then pulled some twentys out of his pocket and proceed to place them on the desk. “Actually, we really wanna talk to you.”

“Okay. You guys are really into this.” The other man looked at the money and chuckled.

“You have no idea,” Sam huffed.

The deskman discreetly took the bills. “What do you want to know?”

Sam started on gathering information. “All this stuff they're saying.” He nodded over to where the ‘manager’ was giving his lines on the place being haunted. “Place being haunted. Leticia Gore. Any truth to it?”

The man leaned closer. “We generally don't like to publicize this to, you know, normal people but, yeah. 1909, this place was called Gore Orphanage. Miss Gore killed four boys with a butcher knife then offed herself.”

“Is tonight really the anniversary?” Dean followed up.

“Yep. Guess your convention folks want authenticity.”

“There been any sightings?”

“Over the years.” The deskman nodded. “Yeah, a few maids have quit. Saying they heard the boys or saw them. A janitor even saw Miss Gore once.”

“Where did Miss Gore carve up the kids?” I rolled my eyes at the indelicate way Dean had phrased the question. 

At that, the deskman clammed up a bit. “Look, I don't want you stomping all over the joint. A lot of this place is off-limits to nerds.”

Dean placed a fifty on the desk and slid it over. 

The man took it and gestured upstairs. “The attic.”

\-------------------

“EMF's going nuts.” Sam had his reader out and it was whining loudly. 

The attic was as creepy and full of cobwebs as any. It looked straight out of a horror movie. Not that it bothered me too much, I had seen, and been in, a lot worse.

“Great.” Dean whispered. “We got a real ghost and a bunch of dudes pretending to be us, poking at it. “

“No way this ends well.” Sam moved off a little.

Dean paused. “You know what? Serves them right.”

“- Dean.” I shot a look at the older Winchester.

He shrugged. “Well, I'm just saying.”

We poked around for a while, and weren’t finding much of anything. The boys and I were just about to head back when a little boy’s voice broke through the silence.

“My mommy loves me. I said my mommy loves me.”

We all whipped around to see a little boy sitting, balled up, against the attic wall. 

“I'm sure she does.” Sam held his hands up slightly in a placating gesture. 

“My mommy loves me this much.” The boy removed his hands to reveal that he had been scalped on part of his head.

  
Sam and Dean recoiled a little. The little boy didn’t talk further and flickered away.

\----------------

“All right. So that was a guy with the County Historical Society.”

Sam came back to the table Dean and I were at. He had been on the phone following up on what we had learned in the attic. 

“Not only did Leticia Gore butcher four boys, but one of them was her own son,” Sam continued.

“Her son?” Dean’s eyebrows raised.

“Yeah. According to the police at the time, she scalped the kid.”

Dean sighed and frowned. He’d never liked people who messed with kids. “I'm gonna deep-fry this bitch, extra crispy. Dude say where she was buried?”

“Doesn't know.” Sam replied. 

All three of us turned around as we caught a conversation from another table.

“Check it out. There's the orphanage, here's the carriage house, and right there, cemetery.”

It was the men who the boys and I had run into when we arrived. The were looking at a map of the grounds.

“You think that's where Leticia's planted?”

“It's worth a shot.”

We headed over to their table. Sam grabbed the map, but had it yanked back by the shorter of the two other men. 

“Hey, man. Do you mind?” The man stood up. 

Sam glanced at Dean and me. “It’s real. A century old, at least. And, he’s right. There is a cemetery on the grounds. Where did you get that?”

The man snorted. “It's called a game, pal. It ain't called charity.”

I could tell Dean was just  _ done  _ with all the games. “All right. Give me the map, Chuckles.”

“You're the Chuckles, Chuckles.” The other man replied. “Besides, Dean don't listen to nobody.”

“Dean, cool it.” His friend told him, also in a faked deep voice.

The real Dean, my Dean, started to pull out his handgun. 

Sam stopped him. “Dean.”

“What? They're freaking annoying.” Dean did put the gun away, though. 

Sam turned to the cosplayers. “Okay, guys, we all wanna find the bones, right? We just thought it would go faster if we all worked together.”

The other men shared a look, then the taller one turned to us. “Ahem. We get the Sizzler gift card.”

Dean rolled his eyes. “Fine.”

“And we get to be Sam and Dean.”

“Fine.”

\------------------

“Hey, Rufus, Bobby, would you hurry it up?”

The five of us were out on the grounds. It was dark, so all the boys had their flashlights out. 

Sam, Dean, and I were lagging behind the cosplayers. 

“You all right,” Sam asked Dean.

“I'm trying to be.” Dean glanced at his brother. I just patted them both on the back. 

Ahead of us, the cosplayers were replaying a scene from the books, AKA, Sam and Dean’s lives. 

“So where were we?”

“ Dr. Ellicott had just zapped your brain.”

“Right. Got it. Ahem. Why are we even here, Dean? You just following Dad's footsteps like a good little soldier? You that desperate for approval? 

“This isn't you talking, Sam.”

“That's the difference between you and me. I got a mind of my own. I'm not pathetic.”

“So, what are you gonna do, Sam? You gonna kill me?”

“Man, I am so sick of you telling me what to do.”

That was really the  _ last _ straw for Dean that day. He sped forward and stepped between the two other men. “All right, you know what? That's it. That is it. You're not Sam.” He pointed to the taller one. “You're not Dean.” He pointed to the shorter one. “What is wrong with you? Why in the hell would you choose to be these guys?!”

“Because we're fans. Like you.” The taller one spoke in his normal voice.

“No, I am not a fan, okay? Not fans.” He glared at the cosplayers. “In fact, I think that the Dean and Sam's story sucks. It is not fun, it's not entertaining. It is a river of crap that would send most people howling to the nuthouse.” He pinned the two other men with a glare. “So you listen to me, their pain is not for your amusement. I mean, you think that they enjoy being treated like circus freaks?”

“Uh I don't think they care, because they're fictional characters.” The shorter one spoke slow, like he was speaking to a six-year-old.

“Oh, they care. Believe me. They care a lot.” Dean stormed off. 

The two men turned to Sam and me for an explanation. Sam stuttered his was through a passable answer. “He, uh, He takes the story really seriously.”

\----------------------

“We made our way to the graveyard and eventually found the boys’ and Gore’s graves. 

“What are you guys doing?” Dean looked over at the two men. 

“We're looking for bones, genius. They gotta be around here somewhere.” They were scanning the cemetery as if the bones were just going to be laying on the ground. 

“Okay, generally, bones are in the ground.” Dean pulled out a shovel. 

“Yeah, I know that. I'm just- Wait. Hold on. Are you serious?” The shorter man had caught sight of the shovel.

“Deadly,” Dean replied as he started digging. 

The taller cosplayer broke character. “We're not really digging up graves, you guys. We're just playing the game.”

“Trust us.” Dean put on a fake smile. “You wanna win the game, right?” He resumed digging. 

I held out a hand. “Hold up.” Dean paused. “If you guys actually dig, it’s going to take all night. Stand back.”

Dean and Sam gave me questioning looks. It wasn’t a ‘what are you doing?’ look. I had done what I was going to do on other salt-and-burns. It was more of a ‘in front of those guys?’ look.

I nodded and extended my hand. The dirt in front of the gravestone started to bubble, then it started to rise into the air like a liquid. It piled to the side and slowly revealed a coffin. I did the same to the other boys’ graves as well. 

“Why are you digging up the boys’ graves too?” Sam had noticed the extra dirt. The two cosplayers didn’t say a word. They had been struck dumb by my powers. 

I looked over at the taller Winchester brother without stopping what I was doing. “That little boy in the attic wasn’t at rest. This will stop him from becoming malicious, if he hasn’t already.” Sam considered my reasoning, before nodding. 

What he didn’t know was that the boys were the real threat. But, I couldn’t tell him. Spoilers. It was okay for me to change this minor of an event, though. As long as I didn’t reveal anything, like where my knowledge came from. 

It took me less than five minutes to uncover all the coffins. Sam and Dean eached picked a grave and hopped down into the hole. Dean had picked Gore’s. He used his shovel to break open the coffin to reveal a skeleton. That shocked the cosplayers out of their frozenness. 

“That's not a plastic skeleton.”

“That's a- That's a "skeleton" skeleton,” The taller one stuttered. “You just dug up a real grave, with freaky powers.”

“Yeah.” The shorter one added. “You guys are nuts.”

“I thought you said you wanted to be hunters.” Sam retorted, almost mockingly. 

“Hunters aren't real, man. This isn't real.”

They started to walk back to the hotel. “My God. You guys have seriously lost your grip on this-” The taller one paused, looking over Sam’s shoulder. 

“What?” Sam turned around. 

Gore was besides Sam. “Naughty, naughty, naughty!” She smacked Sam and threw him into a tombstone, stunning him. 

The two cosplayers started to run, but the taller one tripped. The shorter one noticed, “Barnes! Oh, my God!” and went back for his friend.

“Naughty, naughty, naughty!” Gore went for the men. Dean hurriedly threw salt on the bones, then I held a hand out and lit them on fire. The spectre of Gore went up in flames, releasing the two cosplayers. They gasped for breath. 

I took their shock as a good time to erase their memories of my powers. I replaced them with memories of Sam and Dean digging the graves and using a match to light them. 

“Real enough for you?” 

They both just stared at Dean. He went over to check on Sam, and I salt-and-burned the boys’ bones as well. This time the normal way.

\---------------------

“Aaah. That was really-”

“ Awful.” Dean finished. 

The boys and I had finished up outside, and found the cosplayers at the bar downing shots.

Dean slapped a couple bills down on the bar. “Round's on us, guys. See you around.” He patted each of them on the back. 

The shorter one turned around. “Hey, how did you know how to do all that?”

“We, um- We read the books.”

I smiled. ‘ _ They will never be great at making up believable, on-the-spot, lies.’ _

The other man smiled as well. “You know, I gotta hand it to you, guys. You really saved our asses back there. You know, thanks.” He held his hand out to shake. 

Dean took it. “Guys, I don't even know your names.” He had warmed up to the cosplayers slightly. 

The taller one getured to himself and his friend.“... Oh, well, I'm Barnes. This is Damian. What's yours?”

“Dean. The real Dean.” Dean smiled, knowing they wouldn’t understand.

They didn’t, and Damian nudged Dean in the arm. “Yeah, right. Me too. Get the hell out of here, Dean.” Dean rolled with it. 

Sam, Dean, and I started to walk away, but a voice stopped us.

“You're wrong, you know.” Damian was serious.

“Sorry?” Dean turned back around. 

“About Supernatural. No offense, but I'm not sure you get what the story's about.”

“Is that so?” Dean raised a brow. 

“All right, look. In real life, he sells stereo equipment.” Damian gestured to Barnes. “I fix copiers. Our lives suck. But to be Sam and Dean, to wake up every morning and save the world, to have a brother who would die for you? Well, who wouldn't want that?” 

Dean tilted his head. “Maybe you got a point. You two don't make a bad team yourselves. How do you know each other anyway?”

“Oh, well, we met online. Supernatural chat room.” Barnes smiled up at Damian. 

“Oh. It must be nice to get out of your parents' basement, make some friends.” Dean joked, cutting the tension a little. 

“We're more than friends.” Damian grabbed Barnes’s hand. “We're partners.”

That shocked Dean a little and he got uncomfortable. “Oh. Well. Ahem. Howdy, partners.”

“Howdy.” 

Dean turned back to me, and we walked off. 

Becky had come over and dragged Sam off to another table. Dean and I went over just in time to hear the tale end of Becky’s speech. 

“... Look, Sam, I'm not gonna lie. We had undeniable chemistry. But like a monkey on the sun, it was too hot to live. It can't go on. Chuck and I, we found each other. My yin to his proud yang and well, the heart wants what the heart wants. I'm so, so sorry.” She was clutching at Sam’s hand.

Chuck was smirking a little. “Yeah, Sam. You know, sorry.”

“Will you be all right?” Becky actually looked really concerned.

Sam played along. “Honestly, I don't know. I'll just have to find a way to keep living, I guess.”

Becky and Chuck broke out into smiles. “God bless you.”

“Okay.” Sam glanced over at Dean and me. Dean was trying hard not to laugh.

Sam addressed the writer. “Oh, hey, Chuck, look. If you really wanna publish more books, I guess that's okay with us.”

“Wow, really?” Chuck’s face lit up even more.

“No, not really. We have guns and we'll find you.”

His face fell. “Okay, okay. No more books.”

“See you around.” Sam turned away, and Dean and I made to follow him. 

“Sam, wait.” Becky called out behind us. Sam turned around. “One more thing. In Chapter 33 of Supernatural: Time Is on My Side. There was that Bela? She was British, a cat burglar.”

“Yeah, I know.” 

“She stole the Colt from you. Then she said she gave it to Lilith, remember?” Becky stared up at Sam. 

“Yeah.”

“Well, you know she lied? She never really gave it to Lilith.”

“Wait, what?” All three of us did a double take, though mine was faked.

Becky nodded. “Didn't you read the book? There is this one scene where Bela gives the Colt to a demon, Crowley, Lilith's right-hand man. And I think her lover too.”

“Crowley?” Sam shot at Chuck. “Didn't occur to you to tell us this?”

“Sorry, I didn't remember. I'm not as big of a fan as she is.” Chuck nodded at his girlfriend. 

“Heh.” Sam turned back to Becky. “Becky, tell me everything.”

\------------------

After getting information from Becky the three of us made our way out to the Impala. Sam glanced at his brother. 

“You okay?”

  
“Yeah, you know? I think I'm good.” Dean was actually smiling. 

We all got into Baby, and Dean sped off, on the trail of the Colt. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All recognizable characters are the property of the CW. This work is non-beta’d, all mistakes are mine. Feel free to tell me about them in the comments, but be respectful. 
> 
> Phasing- Density Shifting  
> Cloaking- Turning Invisible  
> Flash- teleport

“Got him. The demon Crowley is making a deal. Even as we speak, it's going down.”

I chuckled at Cas’s phrasing. He had been tracking Crowley for us, and it seemed like he had found the demon. The boys and I were parked under an interstate pass after getting a phone call from Castiel.

“Going down? Right.” Dean was smiling as well. “ Okay, Huggy Bear. Just don't lose him.”

“I won’t” There was a few seconds of silence. “I followed him. It's not far, but it's layered in Enochian warding magic. I can't get in.”

“That's okay,” Dean replied. You did great. We'll take it from here.” He ended the call and turned back to Sam and I. “Time to get to work.”

\-----------------------

“Yeah?” A man answered the speaker’s call. 

“Hello? My car broke down. I need some help.” Jo was our way in the gates. Cas had tracked Crowley to a large manor. Dean, Sam, and I were waiting in the shadows for the gates to open. 

“I'll be down in a minute.” The voice said.

It only took about three minutes for two security men to come down the long driveway. I lifted my shields the smallest bit. ‘Yup, demons.’ I nodded to Sam and Dean.

“Evening, pretty lady. Get yourself on in here.” The blond guard was shamelessly flirting with Jo. 

“I just need to make a call.” Jo acted nervous, as any woman would be if approached so blatantly by a large man. 

The darker-haired guard leered at Jo as well. “You don't need to call anyone, baby. We're the only help you're ever gonna need.”

“You know what? I think I should wait by my car.” Jo started to edge backwards as fast as she could in her heels. 

Before she could get very far, the blond grabbed her by the shoulder. “We said get your ass in here.” His eyes flashed black. 

That was our cue to jump in. I got Jo away from the demons, while Sam and Dean dispatched them. Once they were both dead, Dean turned to Jo. 

“Nice work, Jo.”

Jo turned to the older Winchester. “Thanks.” She pulled out some wire cutters from her clutch. 

“Okay, shall we?”

\----------------------

“It's Crowley, right?”

The boys and I had snuck in after Jo cut the power. Crowley came out to investigate, and we intercepted him in his office. 

He turned around. “So the Hardy Boys finally found me. Oh, you brought a friend along as well.” He gestured to me and walked towards the boys. “Took you long enough.” But, Crowley paused before stepping on the rug. He bent down and flipped it over. On the underside was a devil's trap Dean’d painted.

“Do you have any idea how much this rug costs?” He sounded more annoyed that angry. 

Crowley went to his desk and pulled out a drawer. He grabbed something inside and pulled it out. It was the Colt. “This is it, right? This is what it's all about.”

Sam and Dean’s eyes locked on to the weapon. 

Just then, three demons came up behind us. I felt their presences, so had the time to draw my knives and stab two of them in the chest at the same time. Crowley shot the third with the Colt.

“We need to talk. Privately.” He waved a hand and the doors swung shut. 

“What the hell is this?” Dean was still staring at the demon Crowley had killed. 

“Do you know how deep I could have buried this thing?” Crowley gestured around the room with the Colt. “There's no reason you or anyone should know this even exists at all. Except that I told you.”

“You told us,” Dean scoffed.

The crossroads demon shrugged. “Rumors, innuendo, sent out on the grapevine.”

“Why?” Sam asked. “Why tell us anything?”

Crowley pointed the gun at Dean. “I want you to take this thing to Lucifer and empty it into his face.”

Once Dean realized he wasn’t about to get shot, his face hardened again. “Uh-huh. Okay, and why, exactly, would you want the devil dead?”

“It's called survival.” Crowley set down the Colt on his desk. “But I forgot you two, at best, are functional morons.” He glanced at me. “She seems to have more sense than both of you combined.”

“Hey, you're… functioning morons.” Dear shot back weakly. 

Crowley ignored the hunter. “More, Lucifer isn't a demon, remember? He's an angel. An angel famous for his hatred of humankind. To him, you're just filthy bags of pus.” He reached for a decanter of spirits and poured himself a drink. “That's the way he feels about you. What can he think about us?”

“But he created you.”

“To him we're just servants. Cannon fodder. If Lucifer manages to exterminate humankind we're next. So help me, huh?” Crowley took a sip of his drink. “Let's all go back to simpler, better times. Back to when we could all follow our natures. I'm in sales, damn it. So, what do you say? What if I give you this thing, and you go kill the devil?” He held the Colt out handle first to Sam.

“Okay.” Sam took the legendary weapon.

“Great.”

Sam glanced down at the Colt. “You wouldn't happen to know where the devil is, by chance, would you?”

Crowley nodded and sipped at his drink some more. “Thursday. Birdies tell me he has an appointment in Carthage, Missouri.

“Great. Thanks.” With that, Sam brought the colt up and pulled the trigger. 

There was an empty click. The boys looked at each other in surprise. 

Crowley nodded. “Oh, yeah, right, you probably need some more ammunition.”

“Excuse me, but aren't you signing your own death warrant?” Dean pointed out. “I mean, what happens to you if we go up against the devil and lose?”

“Number one, he's gonna wipe us all out anyway. Two, after you leave here, I go on an extended vacation to all points nowhere.” Crowley handed a leather holder to Dean. “And three, how about you don't miss, okay?! Morons!” He teleported away before the boys could reply. 

\-------------------------------

Ellen downed another shot. “All right, big boy. Go.” 

“I think I'm starting to feel something.”

Dean, Sam, Ellen, Jo, Cas, Bobby, and I were all at Bobby’s house. We had briefed them all on the situation. They had decided to have some fun.

Ellen and Cas were having a drinking contest. Jo was watching them. Bobby was reading lore books, as usual. Dean, Sam and I were discussing the information Crowley had given us. 

“It's gotta be a trap, right?” Sam took a swig of his beer. 

Dean snorted. “Sam Winchester having trust issues with a demon. Well, better late than never.

“And thank you again for your continued support.” Sam said sarcastically and held his beer out. 

“You're welcome.” Dean clinked his own bottle. Then, he got serious. “You know, trap or no trap, if we got a snowball's chance, we gotta take it, right?”

“Yeah, I suppose.”

“Besides, I'm not sure it is a trap. Check it out. I mean, Carthage is lit up like a Christmas tree with Revelation omens.” Dean gestured at the laptop, where he had been doing some research. “And look at this. There's been six missing persons reported in town since Sunday. I think the devil's there.” 

“Okay.”

“But if we think about it, you can't come with.”

That got Sam’s attention. “- Dean.”

“Look, I go against Satan and screw the pooch. Okay. Yeah, we've lost a game piece. That we can take. But if you're there, then we are handing the devil's vessel right over to him. That's not smart.” Dean shook his head. 

“When have we ever done anything smart-” Dean cut Sam off. 

Dean cut Sam off. “I'm serious, Sam.”

“So am I.” Sam leaned forward. “Haven't we learned a damn thing? If we're gonna do this, we're gonna do it together.”

Dean rolled his eyes and sighed. “Okay. But it's a stupid frigging idea.” Dean’s attention was caught by Jo getting up to get another drink. 

Sam noticed where his brother’s attention had gone. “Boy, talk about stupid ideas.”

“Good God.” Dean stood up. “True that.”

Sam and I caught each other’s eyes and laughed. 

\--------------------

“- Everybody, get in here.” Bobby called. He was setting up a camera in the living room. “It's time for the lineup. Usual suspects in the corner.”

“Oh, come on, Bobby, nobody wants their picture taken.” Ellen playfully grumbled as she came in the room. 

“Hear, hear.”

“Shut up, you're drinking my beer.” Bobby finished with his fiddling and rolled back to our group. “Anyway, I'm gonna need something to remember your sorry asses by.”

“Ha! It's always good to have an optimist around.” Ellen laughed and smiled. 

“Bobby's right.” Everyone turned to Cas. “Tomorrow we hunt the devil. This is our last night on earth.”

Just then the camera flashed, taking a picture. 

\----------------------

The whole party was just pulling in to Carthage, with Dean and Sam in the Impala, and Ellen, Jo, me, and Castiel in Ellen’s station wagon. 

Dean stopped the Impala and Ellen pull up alongside them. “Place seem empty to you?”

Dean nodded. “We're gonna check out the P.D. Stay here, see if you can find anybody.”

“Okay.” Dean drove off. 

\---------------------

Ellen, Jo, and I got out of the vehicle to start scouting for people.

Jo noticed that Cas hadn’t gotten out yet. She knocked on the window. “Haven’t you ever heard of a door handle.”

Cas appeared besides Jo and me. “Of course I have.” He looked around, then froze. 

“What is it Cas,” I asked. 

Cas’s eyes were focusing on points around the street where nothing was. 

“This town’s not empty,” Cas replied. “Reapers.” 

“Reapers? As in more than one?” Ellen was looking around as if she would be able to see them. 

At that, I lowered my shields all the way, then blinked. “Yeah, there are reapers everywhere. Dozens of them. They seem like they’re waiting for something.”

Castiel nodded. “They only gather like this at times of great catastrophe. Chicago Fire, San Francisco Quake, Pompeii. Excuse me, I need to find out why they’re here.

”

“I’m going with Cas.” I followed the angel. 

\------------------

We walked around the streets. None of the reapers acknowledged us. They all seemed to be facing the same way, though. Cas caught sight of a reaper in a window and teleported into the building. I was seconds behind him. 

Cas led me down the hall. We turned a corner to a flare of light. I closed my eyes for a second. I could hear another man’s voice.

“Hello brother.”

When I opened my eyes, Cas and I were in a ring of holy fire. A man was leaning against the wall outside of the ring. 

“Lucifer.” Cas acknowledged. 

Lucifer pushed off the wall. “So I take it you're here with the Winchesters, given that she’s their little pet.” He gestured to me. 

I snorted. “If anything, they’re my pets. I have to watch over them often enough.”

Cas got us back on topic. “We came alone.”

The fallen archangel started pacing around the ring of fire. “Loyalty. Hmm. Such a nice quality to see this day and age. Castiel, right? Castiel, I'm told you came here in an automobile.”

“Yes,” Cas ground out.

“What was that like?”

“Um Slow. Confining.”

“What a peculiar thing you are.”

During their exchange, I had been trying to figure a way to disperse the holy fire. ‘Slag it.’ While I wouldn’t be killed by the flames, I was still susceptible to their lesser effects. The flames were draining some of my power. I couldn’t use any of my elemental powers or teleportation. I could not dispel them, so Cas and I were stuck. 

After figuring all this out, I turned back to the conversation.

“What's wrong with your vessel?” I noticed what Cas had. Lucifer’s vessel’s skin was starting to blister and peel in patches on his face. 

“Yes, Nick is wearing a bit thin, I'm afraid.” Lucifer shrugged. “ He can't contain me forever, so-”

“You,-” Cas took a step forward, and I had to pull him back before he stepped into the flames. “ You are not taking Sam Winchester. I won't let you.”

“Neither will I,” I added. 

Lucifer looked almost sad. “Castiel. I don't understand why you're fighting me, of all the angels.”

“You really have to ask?” Castiel’s tone was as scathing as I had ever heard it. 

The King of Hell nodded. “I rebelled. I was cast out. You rebelled. You were cast out.

  
Almost all of heaven wants to see me dead. And if they succeed, guess what. You're their new public enemy number one. We're on the same side, like it or not. So why not just serve your own best interests which, in this case, just happen to be mine?” 

He turned to me. “And Jade, don’t think I haven't heard of you. The rumors of you feats have grown. You’re already so powerful. Why are you burdening yourself with watching over these pathetic beings. You deserve someone on you level.” Lucifer reached out a hand. “Join me and I will make you my knight. No one in hell would be above you but me. You would have legions to command.” He looked at the both of us and smiled. “So what do you guys say.”

“I'll die first.” Cas’s face was determined. 

“Sorry, no can do,” I added, stepping closer to the trench-coated angel.

Lucifer nodded sadly, as if he had been expecting our answers. “I suppose you will.” He walked off, leaving me and Cas stuck in the ring of fire. 

\----------------

Lucifer had just come back to Cas and I, about an hour later, when Meg showed up. 

“I got the Winchesters pinned down. For now, at least. What should I do with them?” She reported to Lucifer.

He thought for a second, then said softly. “Leave them alone.”

Meg turned to the ruler of Hell. “I'm sorry, but are you sure? Shouldn't we-?”

He cut her off with his hand cupping her face. “Trust me, child. Everything happens for a reason.”

Meg nodded and looked adoringly up at him.

Lucifer looked back at us. “Well, Castiel, Jade, you have some time. Time to change your minds.”

Neither Cas nor I responded with more than a glare. We were to busy speaking to each other through looks. Cas had spotted a possible escape rout: An exposed pipe in the roof. 

\-----------------------

The two former residents of hell left Cas and I again. As soon as they were out of earshot, Cas told me his plan. We had to wait for a demon to come back, though. 

We waited for hours, and during that time an explosion went off. Cas shot me a concerned look. I stretched my mind out to see if anyone was still alive. When I managed to connect to Dean and Sam, I let out a sigh of relief. But, then I felt their emotions. 

“No,” I whispered.

“What has happened?” Cas had read my face.

I sighed and broke the connection with the boys. “The boys are fine, but we lost Ellen and Jo.”

Cas’s face fell as well. “I’m sorry. They were honorable people.” 

I nodded sadly. 

\-------------------

By the time Meg came back to us, I estimated that it was around midnight.

She was smirking. 

“You seem pleased.” Cas called the demon out on her happiness. 

Meg nodded. “We're gonna win. Can you feel it? You cloud-hopping pansies lost the whole damn universe. Lucifer's gonna take over heaven. We're going to heaven, Clarence.” She was floating on cloud nine. 

“Heh. Strange.” Castiel tilted his head. “Because I heard a different theory from a demon named Crowley.”

The name drop set Meg on edge. “You don't know Crowley.”

Cas continued, “He believes Lucifer is just using demons to achieve an end. And that once he does, he'll destroy you all.”

“You're wrong.” Meg shook her head. “Lucifer is the father of our race. Our creator. Your God may be a deadbeat, but mine? Mine walks the earth.” 

Just then, the exposed pipe fell and hit Meg in the back. It pushed her through the holy fire and into Castiel’s arms. During their whole conversation, I had been slowly unscrewing the pipe from its connector. 

Cas grabbed the demon and placed his hand to her forehead. Nothing happened. 

Meg laughed. “You can't gank demons, can you? You're cut off from the home office, and you ain't got the juice. So, what can you do, you impotent sap?”

“I can do this.” Cas leaned in as if to kiss Meg, but instead, he pushed her down into the fire. 

I took minor satisfaction from her screams as Cas and I walked over her, out of the fire ring. Regardless of superhuman stamina, standing for most of a day and night was murder on one’s legs. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All recognizable characters are the property of the CW. This work is non-beta’d, all mistakes are mine. Feel free to tell me about them in the comments, but be respectful. 
> 
> Phasing- Density Shifting  
> Cloaking- Turning Invisible  
> Flash- teleport

It had been a few weeks since we had lost Ellen and Jo. After Cas and I had gotten free of the holy fire, we regrouped with the Winchester boys, who had failed to kill the devil. The Colt didn’t work on him.

After, the three men went on some solo hunts, while I stayed to help Bobby, since that had been Ellen’s job. 

They would check in every once in a while and tell me about their hunts. Some of the crazier ones were as follow. The boys went to a mental hospital. Sam switched bodies with a kid. And, the boys both went back in time to save their parents from Anna. 

\---------------------

I appeared in the motel room where the boys were. They had called me in for a very weird case. Apparently, a couple had started eating each other while making out in the kitchen. 

“Hey guys.”

Sam and Dean turned to me. “Hey, Jade. Glad to see you.” 

There were hugs all around. I took a seat on the edge of one of the beds. Then, Sam started to brief me on the situation. “No EMF, no sulfur. Ghost possession and demonic possession are probably out.”

Dean sighed. “Huh, that's where I was putting my money.”

“Nope.” Sam shook his head. 

“Well, then what?” Dean took a swig of the beer he was drinking. “Dude, at the coroner's, you didn't see these bodies. I mean, these two started eating and they just kept going. I mean, their stomachs were full.” He looked thoroughly disgusted. “Like Thanksgiving dinner full. Talk about codependent.”

“Well, I mean, we got our feelers out.” Sam shrugged and sat at the table. “Not much more we can do tonight.”

“All right.”

“I'm just gonna go through some files. You can go ahead and get going.” Sam motioned to the door with his head.

“Sorry?” I could tell Dean didn’t understand where Sam thought he was going.

“Go ahead.” Sam didn’t look up from his laptop. “Unleash the kraken. See you tomorrow morning.”

“Where am I going?”

That made Sam look up. “Dean, it's Valentine's Day. Your favorite holiday, remember? I mean, what do you always call it? Unattached drifter Christmas.”

“Yeah.” Dean nodded as he remembered his yearly exploits. “Oh, yeah. Well. Be that as it may, I don't know.” He shrugged and didn’t move to get up from his seat. “I guess I'm not feeling it this year.”

Sam turned his full attention to his brother. “So you're not into bars full of lonely women?”

Dean frowned and shook his head. “No, I guess not.” Sam shot me a look, then pinned Dean with a different one. “What?”

“It's when a dog doesn't eat. That's when you know something is really wrong.”

Dean snorted.“Remarkably patronizing concern duly noted. Nothing is wrong.” He picked up a file. “Are we gonna work or what?”

“Well, you guys can.” I spoke up. “I’ve been up for over three days straight now. Wake me up if it’s important.”

The boys nodded as I got under the covers a bed. 

\----------------------

“Agent Marley, you just can't stay away.” The coroner smiled at Dean. He was an older man with round specticals and an even rounder belly.

Dean smiled back and got down to business. “You tagged another double suicide.”

The medic nodded. “I just finished closing.”

Dean gestured to Sam and I. “This is my partner, Special Agent Cliff and his trainee, Agent Rogers.”

“Agent Cliff. Agent Rogers.” We shook hands.

The coroner started to switch out his lab coat for his normal jacket. He gave us a rundown of what he had done. “Finished my prelims. I pulled the organ sets and sent off the tox samples.

“Mind if we take a look?” Sam motioned to the cadaver.

The coroner shook his head. “Not at all. But like I said, their good-and-plenties are already Tupperwared.” He showed us the fridge full of organs.

“Super.” Sam started pulling on a pair of gloves. 

The coroner nodded cheerfully and headed out the door, throwing over his shoulder. “Just leave the keys with Marty. And please, gentlemen, refrigerate after opening.”

Dean and Sam got down to business with the body as I stood as a lookout. They looked over all the organs in the fridge.

“Hey.” Sam and I both looked over at Dean, who was examining one of the victims’ hearts. “Be my Valentine?” 

Sam looked over at the organ and rolled his eyes. 

I held out a hand, then grabbed for both of the hearts. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a second. These hearts both have identical marks. Check this out. It looks like some kind of letter.” I brought a magnifying glass over so the boys could see. I looked closer. “Oh, no.”

“What?” Both Winchesters looked up at me. 

I sighed. “I think it's Enochian.”

Dean took a closer look for himself. “You mean like angel scratches?” I nodded. “So it's like the tagging on our ribs?”

I nodded again and examined the organ some more. “I can’t read it, but I recognize it.”

Dean stood up and pulled of his gloves. He pulled his phone out and called Cas. “Cas, it's Dean. Yeah. Room 31C, basement level, St. James Medical Center.”

Cas popped into the room before Dean even finished the address. “I'm there now.” He still had his phone to his ear. 

“Yeah, I get that.” Dean didn’t lower his phone either. 

“I'm gonna hang up now,” Cas said before putting his phone away. 

Then, he came over to the examination table and put on a pair of gloves, at my insistence. He had been about to pick the heart up barehanded. “Right. You're right, Jade. These are angelic marks. I imagine you'll find similar marks on the other couples' hearts as well.”

“So, what are they?” Sam was looking over Cas’s shoulder. “I mean, what do they mean?”

Cas set down the major organ. “It's a mark of union. This man and woman were intended to mate.”

Dean blinked, not expecting that news. “Okay. But who put them there?”

“Well, your people call them cupid.”

“A what?” Dean did a double take. 

I added to the explanation. “What human myth has mistaken for cupid is actually a lower order of angel. Technically it's a cherub, third class."

“A cherub?” 

I nodded. “Yeah. They're all over the world, dozens of them.”

“You mean the little flying fat kid in diapers?” 

I smirked at Dean’s description of the beings. 

Cas didn’t get the reference though. “They're not incontinent.”

Sam got the conversation back on track. “Anyway, so, what you're saying is-”

“What I'm saying is that a cupid has gone rogue and we have to stop him before he kills again.” Cas’s tone was urgent and sharp.

“Naturally. Of course we do.” Sam rolled his eyes but stood up anyways. 

\---------------

“Just happen to know he likes the cosmos at this place?”

The four of us were at a love themed restaurant. There were Valentine decorations everywhere and mood candles at every table. As we were seated, I felt the barest hints of foreign energy in the air. I pulled my own power into a shield covering me. 

“This place is a nexus of human reproduction. It's exactly the kind of-” Cas cut himself off as the waitress brought over our food. Dean and I had gotten burgers, and Sam had gotten a salad. 

“-Of garden the cupid will come to pollinate.”

Dean nodded along as he put ketchup on his burger. But, once he had put it back together, Dean set the sandwich back down and pushed the food away.

Sam watched his brother. “Wait a minute. You're not hungry?”

“No.” Sam gave Dean a look. “What? I'm not hungry.” 

“De-”

Cas interrupted what Sam had been going to say. “Then you're not gonna finish that?” He pointed to the abandoned burger. Dean shook his head and Cas picked up the burger and started to take a bite. He paused. “He's here.”

The boys went on alert. “Where? I don't see anything.”

“There.” Cas pointed out a man and woman sitting at a booth on one wall of the restaurant. 

Dean looked over to where Cas was pointing. “Same-side-of-the-booth couple over there?”

“Meet me in the back.” Cas flew away. I looked around to make sure no one had noticed the angel’s disappearing act. No one had, and the boys and I got up and made our way into the back storage rooms of the restaurant. 

\----------------

“Cas, where is he?” We entered the back room to Cas holding his hand in the air. 

“I have him tethered.” Cas chanted in Enochian. “Manifest yourself.” He lowered his arm. 

After a few seconds of no response, Dean looked around. “So where is he?”

I turned around right before arms wrapped around Dean. “Here I am.”

“Help!” Dean was lifted off his feet. A naked man was hugging him from behind. 

He eventually released Dean, and rounded on Cas. “Hello, you.”

“This is Cupid?” Dean mock whispered to Cas. 

“Yes.” Castiel got out with what little air he could get.

The cupid released Cas and made his way towards Sam. “And look at you, huh?” Sam started to back away. “ No. No, no, no.”

I took the time to pull out a sheet from my pocket space and send it to drape over the naked being. I formed it to where it sat like a toga, thinking it would be more comfortable for the cupid. 

  
So, Sam was hugged by a, luckily, clothed cupid.

“Is this a fight? Are we in a fight?” Dean looked warily at the being.

Cas sighed and shook his head. “This is their handshake.”

Dean frowned. “I don't like it.”

“No one likes it.” Cas shot back. 

By this time, the cupid had finished hugging Sam and me. He turned around to face Castiel. “What can I do for you?”

“Why are you doing this?” Dean demanded.

“Doing what?” The cupid was still smiling. 

“Your targets, the ones you've marked, they're slaughtering each other.” Cas explained pointedly. 

“What? “ The cupid’s face fell. “They are?”

“Listen, birthday suit.” Dean snapped. “We know. We know you been flitting around, popping people with a poisoned arrow, making them murder each other.”

“What we don't know is why.” Sam added. 

“You think that I?” The cupid raised a hand to his mouth, tearing up. “Well I don't know what to say.” He moved past Dean and started to cry in a corner. 

The three men stared at the cupid. They all looked confused as to what to do about the bawling being. 

“Should-? Should somebody maybe go talk to him,” Sam suggested hesitantly. 

Dean nodded. “Yeah, that's a good idea.” He pushed Cas forward. “Give him hell, Cas.”

Cas glanced back at the brothers, but went forward. “Um, look. We didn't mean to, um- Hurt your feelings.”

The cupid grabbed Cas in a hug and clung to him, saying, “Love is more than a word to me, you know? I love love. I love it. If that's wrong, I don't wanna be right.”

“Yes, yes.” Cas awkwardly patted the being on the back. “Of course.” Then Castiel admitted, “I - I have no idea what you're saying.”

“I was just on my appointed rounds.” The cupid sniffed and straightened up. “What my targets do after that, that's nothing to do with me. I was following my orders.” His face lit up as he though of something. “Please, brother. Read my mind. Read my mind. You'll see.”

Cas locked eyes with the cupid and held them for a second. “He's telling the truth.”

The cupid clapped his hands together. “Jiminy Christmas, thank you.”

“Wait, wait.” Dean held a hand up. “You said- You said you were just following orders. Whose orders?”

“Heaven, silly.” The cupid was back to smiling.

“Heaven.” Dean frowned. “Why does heaven care if Harry meets Sally?”

The cupid shrugged. “Mostly they don't. You know, certain bloodlines, certain destinies. -” He gestured to the Winchesters. “Like yours.”

“What?” That threw Dean for a loop. 

“The union of John and Mary Winchester? Very big deal upstairs.” The being nodded. “Top priority arrangement.”

“Are you saying you fixed up our parents?” Dean glared pointedly at the cupid.

“Well, not me, but yeah.” The cupid was smiling full force. “Oh, it wasn't easy. Couldn't stand each other at first. When we were done with them, perfect couple.”

“Perfect?” Dean’s brow rose.

“Yeah.”

“They're dead!”

The cupid shrugged. “I'm sorry, but the orders were very clear. You and Sam needed to be born. Your parents were just meant to be. A match made in heaven.”

“Heaven?” Dean went to puch the cupid, but I grabbed his fist to stop him.

The cupid disappeared. “- Son of a bitch. Where is he? Where did he go?”

Cas glanced at where the being of love had been. “I believe you upset him.”

“Upset him?”

Sam cut his brother off. “-Dean, enough.”

“What?” Dean looked over at Sam. 

“You just tried to punch a cupid.” Sam raised an eyebrow.

“I tried to punch a dick,” Dean corrected.

Sam took a breath and calmed down some. “Um- Are we gonna talk about what's been up with you lately or not?”

“Or not.” Dean stormed out.

\------------------

“So this guy was not marked by Cupid, but his death is definitely suspicious,” Sam said over the phone.

I was in the car with Dean. He was talking to Sam, who had been at the coroners following up on a call. They were trading information. 

“I just went through the police blotter and, counting him, that's eight suicides since Wednesday and 19 ODs.” Dean reported. “Way out of the seasonal batting average.”

“Yeah. If there's a pattern here, it ain't just love. It's a lot bigger than we thought.” 

Dean nodded as he spoke. “Yeah, all right. I'll see you in 10.”

“Yeah. Okay.”

Dean shut the phone off and started up the car again. We headed back to the motel. 

\----------------------

“What the hell's a demon got to do with this anyway?”

Dean, Sam, and I were staring at the briefcase Sam had brought back. He had told us about his run in with a demon on his way back. 

“Believe me, I got no idea.” Sam was still staring at the luggage. 

“You okay?” Dean had noticed Sam’s behavior as well.

“Yeah.” Sam sighed. “Yeah, I'll be all right.”

“Let's crack her open.” Dean went to open the case. “I mean, what's the worst that could happen, right?” Sam shrugged.

Each Winchester spun the number lock for the case, except it wasn’t numbers on the tumblers. It was symbols. The boys could read them and they were working away at breaking the code. 

While they were doing that. I threw up a shield dome over the briefcase, for safety. 

When they hit the right combination, the case’s lid flew open, emitting a bright, white light. I immediately turned my shield opaque, shutting in the light. Then, I closed the case.

“What the hell was that?” Dean asked as he lowered his arm. 

“That was a human soul.” The boys spun around at Castiel’s voice. He was holding a bag from a fast food restaurant and eating a burger. “It's starting to make sense.”

“Now what about that makes sense,” Sam asked. 

“And when did you start eating,” Dean added. 

“Exactly. My hunger. It's a clue, actually.” Cas took another bite of his burger.

“For what?” Sam and Dean asked together. 

Cas walked closer to us. “This town isn't suffering from some love-gone-wrong effect. It's suffering from hunger. Starvation, to be exact.” Again he took a bite from his burger. 

“Aw, Sithspawn.” I realized what Cas was getting at. Then, I closed my eyes and started to search for Famine’s power signature. 

The process would take a while, since I had to go slow. I couldn’t do a one-and-done blanket sweep with my powers. Famine would feel that and know we were searching for him. But, I could send a radar-like beam out and perform subtle sweeps of the city.

“... Specifically, Famine.” Cas finished his thought. 

“Famine? As in the horseman?” I nodded at Dean. “Great. That's freaking great.”

Sam started to ask questions for information. “I thought Famine meant starvation, like, as in,” He gestured to Castiel’s burger. “you know, food.”

“Yes.” Cas nodded and spoke around a mouthful of food. “Absolutely. But not just food. Everyone seems to be starving for something: Sex, attention, drugs, love.”

Dean snorted. “That explains the puppy-lovers that Cupid shot up.”

“Right.” Cas finished his burger and pulled out another one. “The cherub made them crave love, and then Famine came and made them rabid for it.”

“But what about you? Since when do angels secretly hunger for White Castle?” Dean motioned to the bag of fast food Cas was holding.

Castiel looked down at his body. “It's my vessel. Jimmy. His appetite for red meat has been touched by Famine's effect.”

“So Famine just rolls into town and everybody goes crazy?” Dean waved his hand around to emphasize his words. 

“And then will come Famine, riding on a black steed.” Castiel started to recite. “He will ride into the land of plenty. And great will be the horseman's hunger, for he is hunger. His hunger will seep out and poison the air. Famine is hungry. He must devour the souls of his victims.”

“That's what was in the briefcase.” Dean glanced back at the luggage on the table. “The Twinkie dude's soul?”

Cas confirmed Dean’s statement with a nod. “Lucifer has sent his demons to care for Famine to feed him, make certain he'll be ready.

“Ready for what?” Dean was staring at the angel. 

“To march across the land.”

The boys paused for a few minutes to think about that prospect. Sam went in to the bathroom and Cas sat down on on of the beds. 

“So this whole town is just gonna eat, drink and screw itself to death?” Sam asked from the sink in the bathroom. 

Castiel nodded and started in on another burger. “We should stop it.”

Dean rolled his eyes. “Hey, that's a great idea. How?”

“How did you stop the last horseman you met?” Cas was still eating.

Dean went over to his bag and pulled out War’s ring. “War got his mojo from this ring. After Jade took it off him, he just tucked-tail and ran. Everybody affected there, it was like they woke up out of a dream.” Dean put the ring up. “You think Famine's got a class ring too?”

“I know he does,” Cas replied before taking another bite. 

Dean nodded and started to put together some weapons in a duffel. “Well, okay. Let's track him down and get to chopping.”

“Yeah.” Cas was looking through his paper bag for another burger. When he couldn’t find one, he blinked in and out of the room, reappearing with another bag full.

Dean raised a brow. “What are you, the Hamburglar?”

“I’ve developed a taste for ground beef.” Cas unwrapped another burger and resumed eating.

  
  
“Have you even tried to stop it?” 

“I'm an angel.” Cas stated, completely serious. “I can stop anytime I want.”

Dean rolled his eyes again. “Whatever. Sam, Jade, let's roll.”

I stood up as Sam came out the bathroom. He looked shaky .“Dean. I- I can't. I can't go.”

“What do you mean?” Dean stared at his brother. 

“ - I think it got to me, Dean. I think I'm hungry for it.” Sam was panting a little.

“Hungry for what?” Dean’s voice dropped into a concerned tone.

“You know.”

“Demon blood? You gotta be kidding me.” He turned to me. “You get him out of here. Beam him to Montana. Anywhere but here.”

I shook my head and frowned. “Won't work. He's already infected. Hunger's gonna travel with him.”

“Well, then what do we do?!” Dean’s face was full of concern for his brother. 

“You go cut that bastard's finger off.” We all turned back to Sam.

Dean clenched his jaw before turning to Cas and me. “You heard him.” 

Sam’s voice stopped us once again. “But, Dean before you go, you better- You better lock me down.- And good.”

Dean’s frown went deeper, but he went and pulled a pair of handcuffs out of his duffel bag. He, Sam, and I entered the bathroom and Dean cuffed Sam’s wrists around the pipe under the sink. 

“Just hang in there. We'll be back as soon as we can,” Dean said as he stood.

Sam nodded as he settled on the ground. “Be careful. And hurry.”

“We will.”  
\---------------------

“Hey, Marty.” Dean stopped one of the junior coroners in the hallway. “Is Dr. Corman around?”

The young man frowned. “You haven't heard?”

“Heard what?”

The man led us to the morgue lab, where a body was on the examination table. I was covered by a sheet, which the assistant pulled back to reveal Dr. Corman.

“The guy's been dry for the last 20 years.” He explained sadly. “But this morning, he left work, went home and drank himself to death.”

“It's Famine.” Cas butted in. 

The assistant didn’t know what to make of Cas’s comment. “Pardon?”

Dean shot a look at Cas, then gave a tense smile at the assistant. “Would you give us a minute, please?”

“Sure.” He left the room. “Thanks.”

Once the man was gone, Dean replaced the sheet over the doctor. “Crap. I really kind of liked this guy.”

Cas set his hand on the body and closed his eyes. “They haven't harvested his soul yet.”

Dean frowned. “Well, if we wanna play ‘Follow The Soul’ to get to Famine our best shot starts with the doc here.”

“Nope,” I corrected him as I finally felt a ping on my ‘radar sweep’ of the city.

“What?” Dean and Cas turned to me. 

“Ever since we figured out it was Famine, I’ve been subtly searching for him.” I smirked. “I just found him.”

\-------------------------

“Are you serious?”

Cas had reappeared in the Impala with another bag full of burgers. Dean, Cas, and I had been trying to come up with a plan of attack for once we got to where Famine was. 

Cas didn’t respond for a few seconds, unwrapping a burger. “These make me very happy.”

“How many is that?” Dean glanced into Castiel’s bag. It held around twenty burgers. 

Cas shrugged. “Lost count. It's in the low hundreds.” 

Dean whistled. 

“What I don't understand is where is your hunger, Dean? And yours, Jade?”

“Huh?” 

“Slowly but surely, everyone in this town is falling prey to Famine.” Cas explained around a mouth full of burger. “But so far, you seem unaffected.”

It was Dean’s turn to shrug. “When I wanna drink, I drink. When I want sex, I go get it. Same goes for a sandwich or a fight.”

Cas tilted his head. “So you're saying you're just well-adjusted?”

Dean snorted. “God, no. I'm just well-fed.” 

“Well, for me, I threw up a body shield when I first felt the power in the air. Though, at the time I didn’t know it was Famine. I’ve kept it up ever since.” I piped up. “His aura isn’t getting past it.”

“Ah.” With the mystery partially solved, Cas moved his attention back to his food. 

Dean threw Baby into gear and headed out of the morgue's parking lot. 

\---------------------------

“You wanna go over the plan again?”

Cas, Dean, and I were parked outside a fast food restaurant. It was the place I had located Famine at. Dean was trying to get Castiel’s attention off his burger. “Hey, Happy Meal. The plan?”

Cas finally looked up. “I take the knife. I go in, cut off the ring-hand of Famine and I meet you both back here.”

Dean scoffed and looked out the window at the restaurant. “Well, that sounds foolproof.”

But, eventually, Dean let Cas go in first, alone. 

\---------------------------

“This is taking too long.”

Castiel had gone in about fifteen minutes ago, and he still wasn’t back. Dean and I got out of the Impala and crept inside. I cloaked before we entered, though, as backup. 

“Cas? Cas.” Dean called softly. 

The two of us ere in the kitchen of the joint. The fryer was still bubbling. A man’s body was headfirst in the oil. Both Dean and I wrinkled our noses in disgust. 

Dean, spotted Cas first. Cas was on the floor in the dining area, eating out of a metal tray. He didn’t respond to Dean’s soft calls. 

I whipped around right before Dean did. A pair of demons were creeping up behind us. I couldn’t yell out as Dean was bludgeoned in the head by his own shotgun, after they managed to rip it away from the hunter. 

Each demon grabbed one of Dean’s arms and dragged him to the dining area. There, there were several demon guards, all with black suits and sunglasses, even though it was dark. And, in front and center, a frail looking old man sat in an electric wheelchair. 

If I hadn’t been able to sense his power, I would have though the man was just someone’s elderly grandfather. But, I could, and so could feel the power and energy rolling off the man. He wasn’t trying to hid it like War was.

“The other Mr. Winchester.” Famine hissed as Dean was brought before him. I stayed behind Dean’s guards, ready to act. 

“What did you do to him?” Dean motioned to Cas, who hadn’t even looked up from his food. It was raw ground beef, now that I was closer.

“You sicced your dog on me.” The horseman wheezed. “I just threw him a steak.”

“So this is your big trick, huh?” Dean panted. “Making people cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs?”

“Doesn't take much. Hardly a push. Oh, America. All you can eat all of the time. Consume, consume. A swarm of locusts in stretch pants and yet you're all still starving. Because hunger doesn't just come from the body. It also comes from the soul.” Famine’s voice was gratingly rough. 

“It doesn't seem to be coming from mine.”

“Yes.” Famine tilted his head. “I noticed that. Have you wondered why that is? How you could even walk in my presence?”

“I like to think it's because of my strength of character.” Dean snarked back.

“I disagree.” Famine rolled himself forward and placed a hand on Dean’s stomach. “Yes. I see. My. That's one deep, dark nothing you got there, Dean.” Dean groaned as Famine pulled away. “ Can't fill it, can you? Not with food, or drink. Not even with sex.”

“Oh, you're so full of crap.” Dean’s facade was starting to crack.

“Oh, you can smirk and joke and lie to your brother, you friend, lie to yourself but not to me. I can see inside you, Dean. I can see how broken you are. How defeated. You can't win and you know it. But you just keep fighting just keep going through the motions. You're not hungry, Dean, because inside, you're already dead.”

“Let him go.” 

I turned towards the door. Sam was standing there, his face covered in blood. 

“Sam. Sammy, no.” Dean realized the same thing I did. Sam had drank more demon blood. 

The demon guards took a step towards Sam, except for the two holding Dean. 

“Stop!” Famine halted his minions. “No one lays a finger on this sweet little boy.” He smiled with broken teeth at Sam. “Sam, I see you got the snack I sent you.”

“You sent?” Sam’s tone was both deadly and curious.

Famine nodded. “Don't worry. You're not like everyone else. You'll never die from drinking too much. You're the exception that proves the rule. Just the way Satan wanted you to be.  
So cut their throats.” All his demon guards glanced at their master. “Have at them.”

“Sammy, no,” Dean called. 

“Please, be my guest.”

Sam raised his hand and started to pull all the demons out of their vessel at once. Famine stared, fixated on the younger Winchester brother.

I took that as my chance to act. I silently snuck up and around Famine’s chair. Once I was in front of the being, I held my hand out and summoned his ring off his finger and into my palm. 

Famine gasped and slouched even more in his chair. “NO!” 

As soon as the ring left his finger, Cas finally stopped eating and stood up. Sam stopped shaking and slumped a little. He was still holding the demons in their smoke form.

Before anyone could stop him, Famine, and his chair, vanished.

I uncloaked and waked over to Dean. “Got it.” I opened my fist to show the ring. It was silver and had a black stone set on top. 

Dean took it and went over to his brother. Cas and I went through the smoke and started smiting the gaseous demons. He used his grace, and I used one of my knives. Surprisingly, I had figured out that it would work on demons even in their smoke form. 

\-------------------

“Help. Help! Dean! Cas. If you're out there, please, help!”

I watched Dean cringe from Sam’s cries. We were back at Bobby’s and Sam was doing another detox.

Cas comforted the elder Winchester. “That's not him in there. Not really.”

“Dean, help me!”

Dean sighed. “I know.” He didn’t look particularly comforted. 

“Cas!”

Cas tried again. “Dean, Sam just has to get it out of his system, and then he'll -"

“Listen, I just- Please!"

“I just need to get some air.” Dean turned away and walked up the stairs of the basement. 

Cas tried to follow Dean, but I held him back and shook my head. “Dean needs the time to himself.” 

Cas nodded, and we both leaned back against the basement wall, trying to tune out Sam’s cries. 


	7. Chapter 7

“Drive faster, Dean.” Sam was glancing over his shoulder at the horde of demons behind the Impala. 

The boys and I had been investigating demon omens in a small town. Everything seemed normal when we got there, but not a day later, half the townspeople turned out to be demons. Sam, Dean, and I fought hard, but we eventually had to leave or get overrun. The bad news was, they were still chasing us even after we had left the town.

“I can't.” Dean’s knuckles were white on the wheel.

“Uhn.” I glanced over at Sam. He was gripping his shoulder where he had been cut. I wasn’t fairing much better. I had a large gash running down my left leg that was taking even my advanced healing time to repair. 

“Are you okay?” Dean shot a look at his brother as well.

“Yeah, I'm amazing.” Sam grit his teeth. “-Have you ever seen that many?”

Dean shook his head and kept driving. “No way. Not in one place.” 

After a few seconds, he slammed on the brakes and stopped the car. “What the hell?” There was a barrier on fire blocking the road. “Damn it.” Dean tried to turn Baby around, but it was too late. The demons were on us. 

They broke the windows, and were in the process of dragging us out of the car when, suddenly, they started letting go.

The last demon let me go and I turned to see what was the cause. On the other side of the flame barrier, a small truck was shooting a jet of water at the demon. It appeared to be holy water as the demons were screeching and shielding away. A man popped up on top of the truck and spouted a line of Enochian. All the demons smoked out.

“Well, that's something you don't see every day.” Dean said as he picked himself off the ground. 

“You three all right?” A man with a shot gun came up to use. 

“Peachy.” 

“Be careful. It's dangerous around here.” The man glanced around then started to walk away.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait.” Dean tried to get some answers. 

“No need to thank us.” A different man tossed over his shoulder. 

“No, hold up a sec.” The other men paused. “Who are you?”

“We're the Sacrament Lutheran Militia.”

“The what?” Dean’s brow furrowed. 

“I hate to tell you this. But those were demons and this is the Apocalypse.” The man with the shotgun tilted his head. “So buckle up.”

Sam and Dean glanced at each other, then moved over to the back of the Impala. Dean opened the trunk and revealed the hidden compartment.

“We're in the same line of business,” Sam explained. 

“Yeah, and among colleagues,” Dean added. “That's a police-issued shotgun.” He looked over at the pickup truck. “That truck is inspired.”

Sam looked over all the equipment. “Where did you guys pick up all this crap?”

The men shrugged. “You know, you pick things up along the way.”

“Guys, well, this whole corner of the state is nuts with demon omens,” Dean tried.“We just wanna help. That's all.”

“- We're on the same team here.” Sam added. “Just talk to us.”

The men shared looks. “Follow us.”

\--------------------------

The men lead us back to their town. It was surrounded by fences and barbwire. Some women met the returning crew. Dean supported me as we got out of the Impala.

“Dylan, it's a church. Headphones off.” A woman softly cuffed the youngest member of the group as he entered the church.

“Yes, Mom.”

Dean, Sam, and I followed the men into the church, where most of the town was congregated. We all looked around as we entered. 

A preacher was speaking with two couples standing before him. “Who would have thought the Apocalypse could be so romantic? Marriage, family, it's a blessing. Especially in times like this. So hold on to them. Some of you have been-”

Dean leaned over to our guide, who's name I’d learned was Paul.“Wedding? Seriously?”

Paul nodded. “Yeah. We've had eight so far this week.”

I turned and got started wrapping my and Sam’s wounds.

\-------------------------------

The boys and I were watching the newly-wed couples leave the church when the preacher came up beside us. “Hey. So Rob tells me you boys hunt demons.”

Sam nodded. “Uh Yes, sir.”

The preacher huffed. “You missed a few.”

Dean nodded along. “Yeah, tell us about it. Any idea why they're here?”

The preacher shook his head. “They sure seem to like us, though.” He motioned to us. “Follow me, gentlemen, and lady.”

He led us back into the church, and pass the the chapel to the back rooms. 

“So you're a preacher.” Dean chatted as we walked.

“Not what you expected, huh?” 

“Well, dude, you're packing.” He motioned to the handgun at the preacher’s hip.

“Strange times.”The man opened a door to a back room. 

People were moving around. I spotted a lady chanting over water, and a man loading a shotgun. 

“Is that a 12-year-old packing salt rounds?” Dean nodded to a girl packing salt into shotgun shells.

“Everybody pitches in.” The preacher stopped in the back of the room.

“So the whole church,-” Sam asked.

“The whole town.” The preacher corrected. 

Dean whistled lowly. “Whole town full of hunters. I don't know whether to run or buy a condo.”

The preacher shrugged. “Demons were killing us. We had to do something.”

“Why not call the National Guard?” Sam suggested the more normal reaction.

The preacher shifted. “Told not to.”

“By who?” Dean probed some more as the preacher looked away. “Come on, you're as locked and loaded as we've ever seen. And that exorcism was Enochian. Someone was telling you something.”

“Look, I'm sorry. I can't discuss it.”

A young lady came over hand put her hand on the preacher’s shoulder. “Dad, it's okay.”

“Leah.” He shook his head. 

The girl didn’t listen. She smiled at us. “It's Sam and Dean Winchester. They're safe. I know all about them.” 

Dean frowned. “You do?”

Leah nodded. “Sure. From the angels.” She turned to me and frowned. “I also know about her. The angels don’t like her very much. They say she’s troublesome.”

I frowned back at the girl. Something felt off about about her.

All the people around us stopped working and looked at me after hearing her words. Dean glanced around at the silent people. “Hey. I can vouch for her. She’s with us.”

The preacher nodded, and the townspeople all went back to their work. Sam sighed. “Angels. Awesome.”

Leah smiled at the boys. She didn’t even acknowledge me again. “Don't worry. They can't see you here. The marks on your ribs, right?”

Dean was staring at Leah. “So you know all about us because angels told you?”

“Yes. Among other things.”

“Like the snappy little exorcism spell?” He added.

She nodded. “They show me where the demons are gonna be before it happens. How to fight back.”

Her father put her arm around her. “She's never been wrong. Not once. She's very special.”

“Dad.” Leah blushed.

Dean’s eyes brightened as he thought of something. “And let me guess. Before you see something you get a real bad migraine, you see flashing lights?”

“How did you know?” 

Dean chuckled. “You're not the first prophet we've met. But you are the cutest.” He glanced at Leah’s father, who was frowning. “I mean that with total respect, of course.”

\-------------------------

“So did you get a hold of Cas?” Dean asked Sam as he came back to the table. 

We were at the town bar. The place was lively and loud. 

Sam nodded. “Yeah, I left him a message, I think.” He took a swig of his beer. “So, what's your theory? Why all the demon hits?”

Dean shrugged. “I don't know. Gank the girl prophet, maybe?”

Sam frowned.

“What?” Dean questioned his brother’s expression.

“These angels are sending these people to do their dirty work.”

“Yeah, and?” Dean took a drink. 

“And they could get ripped to shreds.”

Dean leaned forward. “ We're all gonna die, Sam. In like a month. Maybe two. I mean it. You know, this is the end of the world. But these people aren't freaking out. In fact, they're running to the exits in an orderly fashion.” He shrugged. “I don't know that that's such a bad thing.”

“Who says they're all gonna die,” Sam challenged. “Whatever happened to us saving them?”

Before the conversation could continue, the church bell started to ring. Everyone got up and made their way out of the bar. 

“Something I said?” Dean watched all the people leaving. 

Sam caught up with the bartender, who had been our guild. “Paul, what's going on?”

“Leah has had another vision,” He replied. “Come on.”

Sam looked at Dean and me. “Wanna go to church?”

Dean took one last swig of beer and stood up. “You know me. Downright pious.”

I snorted. “Yeah, and I’m a nun.”

\-----------------------

The brothers and I squeezed in at the back of the church. Pastor Gideon was addressing the congregation. “Three miles off Talmadge Road.” Leah whispered into his ear. He corrected himself. “Five miles. The demons have gathered. I don't know how many, but a lot. Thank you, Leah.” He looked over the crowd. “So who's gonna join me?”

Several people raised their hands. “Wouldn't miss it.”

“Someone's gotta cover Rob's ass.”

Dean raised his hand for us. “We're in, Padre.”

The preacher nodded. “Thank you. I'd like to offer a prayer.” Everyone bowed their heads. Sam, Dean, and I didn’t close our eyes though. “Our father in heaven-”

“Yeah, not so much.” Dean snarked to me. I shot him a look. 

“-Help us to fight in your name. We ask that you protect us from all servants of evil. Guide our hands in defeating them. And deliver us home safely. Thank you. Amen.”

“Amen.” The people echoed.

\---------------------------

Dean, Sam, and I were running quietly through the woods towards a cabin. There were several other people with us, including the pastor and the young man from earlier, Dylan. 

We split off into two groups. I was with the one trying to breach the front of the cabin. Sam and the other man with us stood guard next to the door as I held out a hand and subtly unlocked it. The townsman didn’t notice. 

But before we could enter, several demons jumped our small group. We fought hard, with everyone watching each others backs. I even had Dylan stab a demon that was behind me. 

There was liberal use of holy water and the demon knife. Some of the men used Enochian exorcisms. All in all, it took less than fifteen minutes for us to clear the house. 

Sam sighed as we made our way back to the cars. “I guess that's what it like, huh?”

“What?” Dean glanced at his brother. 

“Having backup.”

“Dean, Sam, Jade.”

“Yo.” “Hey.” “Sup.” The brothers and I smiled at Dylan, who had approached the Impala. 

“So, is it cool if I get a ride back with you guys,” He asked. 

Dean chuckled and nodded. “You saved my ass twice already. One more time, you can drive.” He waved to the other people to say it was alright. The truck pulled away, and Dean gestured to Sam. “Get a beer.”

Sam passed a can to Dean and a soda bottle to me. Dean threw his beer to Dylan. “Hey.”

Dylan caught it and stared. Dean smirked. “You earned it. Don't tell your mom.” 

The kid looked as if Christmas had come early. “Oh, believe me. I will not.”

Just then, I felt a demonic presence under the car. In a flash, I had my hand out and was dragging the woman out from under Baby. I quickly stabbed the monster. 

Sam and Dean hadn’t had time to react and they both stared at me. “Missed one,” I quipped. 

\--------------------------

When the Impala pulled back into the small town, everyone was in the church celebrating their victory. Father Gideon was preaching in front of the crowd when Leah fell out of her seat and into the aisle. 

“Leah, honey? Leah, honey?” The preacher crouched down and cradled his daughter to his chest. “Honey? It's okay, sweetie. It's okay.”

Leah tried to get up. Father Gideon gently held her down. “No, just rest a minute, huh?”

“No,” Leah shook her head and gently pulled out of her father’s grip. She turned and addressed the crowd. “When the final day comes, Judgment Day, we'll all be together with our loved ones. We've been chosen. The angels have chosen us. And we will be given paradise on Earth. All we have to do is follow the angel's commandments.” 

Dean, Sam, and I shared looks. 

\------------------

“No drinking, no gambling, no premarital sex,” Sam repeated as the three of us left the church. “Dean, they outlawed 90 percent of your personality.”

Dean shrugged. “Well, whatever. When in Rome.”

“So you're cool with it?” Sam frowned. 

“I'm not cool.” Dean sighed and shook his head. “I'm not not cool. It's- Look, man, I'm not a prophet. We're not locals. It's not my call. I'll catch up with you two.” He turned and headed back into the church. 

Sam headed back to the bar to gather information. As I wasn’t keen on drinking, I made my way to our motel room. 

\------------------

I was reading when Dean came back to the room. He settled down to take a nap.

Sam came back about half an hour later. Dean looked up from where he’d been dozing. “Where you been?”

“Drinking.” Sam tossed his coat down on the back of a chair. 

Dean smirked. “Heh. You rebel.”

His brother nodded along. “I'd’ve had more, but it was  _ curfew _ .”

“Right.” 

“Hear they shut down the cell towers?”

Dean rubbed at his eyes.“No, that's news to me.” I put down my book fully. 

“Yeah, no cable, Internet.” Sam listed. “Total cutoff from the "corruption of the outside world." I could hear the quotations Sam put around the last phrase. 

“Hmm.” Dean really didn’t seem to care that much. 

“Don't you get it?” Sam leaned against the breakfast table. They're turning this place into some fundamentalist compound.”

“Yeah, I had thought something was off around here.” I put my two cents in.

“No, I get it.” 

“And all you got is a "hmm"? What's wrong with you?” 

“I get it.” Dean swung his legs off the bed. “I just don't care.” He caught Sam’s glare. “What? What difference does it make?”

“It makes a hell of a-” Sam cut himself off and stood up all the way. “At what point does this become too far for you?” He moved to sit on the bed across from Dean. “Stoning? poisoned Kool-Aid? The angels are toying with these people.”

Dean shrugged. “Angel world, angel rules, man.”

“Since when is that okay with you?” Sam was frowning, hard.

“Since the angels got the only lifeboats on the Titanic.” Dean got up and got some more coffee. “Who exactly is supposed to come along and save these people? It was supposed to be us. We can't do it.”

“And so what? You wanna just stop fighting, roll over?” 

“I don't know. Maybe.” Dean took a sip of his drink. 

“Don't say that.” Sam shook his head and stood up. I stayed where I was on a bed. 

“Why not?” 

“You can't do this.” I could feel how Dean’s words hurt Sam.

“Actually, I can.” Dean made to leave the motel room.

“No, you can't. You can't do this to me.” Sam blocked his path. “I know one thing. One thing keeping me going. You think you're the only one white-knuckling here, Dean? I can't count on anyone else but you and her.” He ticked his head over to me. “And Jade and I can't do this alone. Dean.”

Dean pushed past Sam and left the room.“I gotta clear my head.” 

Sam made an aborted step towards his brother. “It's past curfew.” Dean left anyways. It's past curfew.” He whispered to himself.

I sighed and went over to Sam. “Dean just needs time to think. You two have been under a lot of pressure recently.”

Sam sat down on one of the beds. “I know, but I’m afraid he’s going to do something stupid, especially when he’s talking like that.”

I moved over and side-hugged Sam. “We just have to trust him. I know he doesn’t always make the best choices, but he’s always done what he thought was best for us. Besides, I’ll watch over him.”

Sam gave me a small smile as I pulled away.

\------------------------------

Sam answered the door at a knock. It was the middle of the night, but Sam was having trouble sleeping. I was just up as usual, though this time I was knitting. I’d picked up the skill from a red-headed mother of seven. 

“I got your message.” It was Castiel at the door. “It was long, your message. And I find the sound of your voice grating.”

At his voice, I got up and set my knitting aside. As I approached the door, Cas and Sam made their way inside.

“What's wrong with you?” Sam was frowning at the angel. “Are you drunk?”

“No.” Cas paused ans he stumbled a bit. “Yes.”

“What the hell happened to you?” 

“I found a liquor store.” Cas was leaning against a wall. 

“And?” Sam prompted.

“And I drank it. Why did you call me?” Cas tried to make his way to the couch, but he stumbled again.

Sam steadied him.“There you go, easy. Are you okay?”

Cas motioned for Sam to come close. Sam did, and Cas mock whispered in his ear. “Don't ask stupid questions.” Cas backed up and sat down on the couch. “Tell me what you need.”

I nodded when Sam sent me a questioning look. “There have been these demon attacks. Massive. On the edge of town. We can't figure out why.”

“Any sign of angels?” Castiel scrubbed at his face a little.

“Sort of.” Sam cleared his throat. “They've been speaking to this prophet.”

“Who?” Cas’s brow furrowed.

“This girl, Leah Gideon.” Sam explained.

“She's not a prophet.” 

Now Sam was frowning. “I'm pretty sure she is. The visions, headaches, the whole package.”

Castiel shook his head. “The names of all the prophets, they're seared into my brain. Leah Gideon is not one of them.”

“Then what is she?” Sam was really concerned.

\-----------------------------

It was early the next morning when Dean came back to the room. Sam stood up from where he had been trying to get more answers from Cas. “We went out looking for-” He noticed Dean’s somber expression, and the blood on his hands, at the same time I did. “You all right?”

Dean nodded. “Yeah, it's not my blood. Paul's dead.”

“What?” Sam’s eyebrows rose.

“Jane shot him.”

“It's starting.” Cas interrupted. 

“What's starting?” Dean turned to the wayward angel. “Where the hell have you been?”

“On a bender.” Cas snapped. 

“Did he-?” Dean glanced back at Cas. “You say on a  _ bender _ ?”

Sam nodded. “Yeah. He's still pretty smashed.”

“It is not of import.” Cas waved a hand. “We need to talk about what's happening here.”

“I'm all ears.” Dean went to wash his hands. 

“For starters, Leah is not a real prophet.” Sam sat down on the couch next to me and Cas. 

“Well, what is she exactly?” Dean threw over his shoulder. 

“The Whore.” Cas interrupted again. 

Dean raided a brow as he dried his hands.“Wow, Cas, tell us what you really think.”

“She rises when Lucifer walks the Earth. " Cas pointed to a picture in the open lore book on the table. “And she shall come, bearing false prophecy." This creature has the power to take a human's form, read minds. Revelation calls her the Whore of Babylon.”

“That's catchy.” Dean sat down in the chair on the other side of the coffee table. 

“The real Leah was probably killed months ago,” Sam added. 

“What about the demons?” Dean started glancing over the passage.

“They're under her control.” Cas explained.

“And the Enochian exorcism?”

“Fake. It actually means, "You breed with the mouth of a goat.” Both boys just stared at Cas. He sighed. “It's funnier in Enochian.”

“So the demons smoking out, that's just a con? Why?” Dean stood up again. “What's the end game?”

“What you just saw, innocent blood spilled in God's name.” I took over part of the explanation. You heard that heaven talk. She manipulates people.”

“To slaughter and kill and sing peppy little hymns. Awesome.” Dean rolled his eyes.

“Her goal is to condemn as many souls to hell as possible. And it's just beginning.

She's well on her way to dragging this whole town into the pit.”

At that, we all shared looks of concern.

“All right.” Dean perked up some. “So then how do we go "Pimp of Babylon" all over this bitch?”

\------------------------------

After a few seconds of silence, Castiel popped away, and reappeared hours later with a large stick. “The Whore can be killed with that. It's a stake made from a cypress tree in Babylon.”

“Great. Let's ventilate her.” Dean picked up the stake. 

“Not that easy.” Cas shook his head.

“Of course not.” Sam huffed. 

“The Whore can only be killed by a true servant of heaven.” Cas turned away for a minute to get a glass of water. 

“Servant, like?” Dean glanced between himself and Cas.

Cas could tell where Dean was going with his question.“Not you. Or me. Jade isn’t of this world, so she’s out. And Sam, of course, is an abomination. We'll have to find someone else.”

\-----------------------

Cas and Pastor Gideon appeared in the middle of our motel room. “What was that?” Pastor Gideon was wide-eyed from teleporting.

Dean smiled a little. “He wasn't lying about the angel thing. Have a seat, Padre. We gotta have a chat.”

Pastor Gideon took a seat on the couch as Sam and Dean started to explain what we wanted him to do. 

After we were finished, the pastor shook his head slowly. “No. Ahem. She's my daughter.”

“I'm sorry. But she's not.” Dean shook his own head. “She's the thing that killed your daughter.”

“That's impossible.”

“It's true.” Sam pushed a little. “And deep down, you know it. Look, we get it. It's too much, but if you don't do this she's going to kill a lot of people. And damn the rest to hell.”

“It's just - “ Dean handed the cypress stake to the pastor. 

Pastor Gideon took it hesitantly. “Why does it have to be me?”

“You're a servant of heaven.” Cas replied from where he was leaning against the wall partition.

“And you're an angel.” Pastor Gideon fired back. 

Cas snorted. “Poor example of one.” 

The pastor still looked uneasy, but after a few seconds of deliberation in his head, he nodded.

\--------------------------------

Sam, Dean, Pastor Gideon, and I crept quietly into the church. We had decided to wait for Leah in Pastor Gideon's office.

It wasn’t more than half an hour before Leah entered the private room. The four of us watched as Leah paused in front of a mirror on the wall. Her face flickered to a monster’s face for just a second. She smiled as she covered the mirror. 

I glanced over at Pastor Gideon. His face was pale. I could tell he had seen his ‘daughter’s reflection change as well. Then, his face hardened into determination.

Leah opened the cabinet on the wall and put something away, when she closed the cabinet, Castiel appeared in front of her. She gasped. Cas grabbed her by the arms and spun her around. 

“Daddy, don't hurt me.” She pleaded as Gideon went to stab her. He hesitated. 

“Gideon, now!” Sam prompted from the other side of the room where we had been hiding.

The pastor still hesitated, and Leah took those few seconds to chant something that made Cas let go of her and crumple to the ground. She also used her power to throw Pastor Gideon, the Winchesters, and me into the wall. She ran out the room.

“Gideon.” Sam glanced at the pastor as he ran after Leah. “Wait. No!” 

I stayed behind to try and tend to the pastor, who had gone unconscious when he fell, and Cas, who was still writhing on the ground in pain. 

I went to Cas first. He was groaning and clutching at his stomach. I did a scan of his vessel with my powers and found a malicious power attacking his grace. There wasn’t anything I could do about it, though.  _ ‘Dean, kill her already.’  _ I moved on to the pastor and managed to wake him up, though he was still sort of out of it. 

While I was tending to the pastor, Cas stopped groaning. Dean and Sam came back in the room a few minutes later.

Dean took one of Castiel’s arms and I took the other. Sam helped Pastor Gideon.

“Dean, how did you do that?” Sam asked as we helped our respective persons outside.

“What?”

“Kill her,” Sam restated. 

Dean huffed as he and I helped Cas up some stairs.“ My long run of luck held out, I guess.”

“Last I checked, she could only be ganked by a servant of heaven.” Sam was panting a little at having to hold up another man by himself.

“Well, what do you want me to tell you?” Dean shrugged as best he could while helping Cas. “I saw a shot, I went for it.”

“Here we go.” We made it to the Impala and I let Cas’s arm slide from my shoulder as he got into the car. “Watch your head.” I got in as well, but I could still hear the conversation above me.

“Are you gonna do something stupid,” Sam asked accusingly.

“Like what?” Dean opened the driver’s door.

“Like Michael stupid?”

“Come on, Sam. Give me a break.” Dean got in the car. Sam did as well, a few second’s later.

\-------------------

“How's the head?” Dean handed the pastor another ice pack. We had stopped at a motel a few hours out from the town.

“I'm seeing double.” Pastor Gideon joked weakly. “But that may be the painkillers.”

“You'll be okay.” Dean headed to the door as the pastor whispered, “No.”

“Where you going?” Sam asked. 

Dean paused. “To grab clean bandages out of the trunk.”

“Relax.” I finished wrapping the pastor’s arm, where he had cut himself on his desk when Leah threw him. “Okay, there. How's that?”

Both Sam and I looked up as we heard the Impala’s engine start up. Sam ran outside. “Damn it.” I could hear him yelling for his brother.

“Dean! Dean! Dean.”

Sam came back inside looking both sad, and like he would punch Dean the next time he saw him. I didn’t really blame him. Dean ditching us was a low move. 

“Can you teleport us to him?” Sam turned hopefully to me. 

I shook my head and sighed. “No, I can’t. The Enochian symbols on our ribs blocked my link with you to, and I haven’t had time to set up a new link. We’ll have to find him the old fashioned way.”

Sam frowned and kicked the bed frame softly.


	8. Chapter 8

“Sending someone a candy-gram?”

Dean whipped around at the sound of Sam’s voice. He and I were in the doorway of the motel Dean had been staying at.

Dean frowned. “How did you find me?”

“Well, you're gonna kill yourself, right? It's not too hard to figure out the stops on the farewell tour. How's Lisa doing, anyways?” Sam’s voice was rough. I stayed quiet. Honestly, I was just there as support for Sam, otherwise, it was a private matter.

“I'm not gonna kill myself,” Dean objected.

“No? So Michael is not about to make you his Muppet?” Sam shook his head. “What the hell, man? This is how it ends? You just walk out?”

“Yeah, I guess.” He took a large gulp from his alcoholic drink.

“How could you do that?” 

“How could I?” Dean raised his voice a little. “All you've ever done is run away.”

“And I was wrong every single time I did!” Sam raised his voice a little too, before lowering it again. “ Just- Please. Not now. Bobby is working on something.”

“Oh, really?” Dean raised an eyebrow. “What?” Sam stayed silent. “You got nothing and you know it.”

“You know I have to stop you.” Sam straightened up.

“Yeah, well, you can try.” Dean put down his empty glass. “Just remember, you're not all hopped up on demon blood this time.”

“Yeah, I know but I brought help.” Sam was looking at me. 

In milliseconds, I flashed over to Dean and put a hand on his shoulder. I flashed him to Bobby’s house, then went back for Sam. 

\----------------------

“Yeah, no, this is good, really. Eight months of turned pages and screwed pooches but tonight, tonight is when the magic happens.” Dean said sarcastically as he paced. 

He, Bobby, Sam, Castiel, and I were in Bobby’s living room. Dean hadn’t been happy about his ‘abduction.’

“You ain't helping.” Bobby glanced up at Dean. 

“Yeah, well, why don't you let me get out of your hair, then?”

“What the hell happened to you?” Bobby looked up fully at Dean. 

“Reality happened.” Dean stared down his pseudo father. “Nuclear is the only option we have left. Michael can ice the devil save a boatload of people.”

“But not all of them. We gotta think of something else.” Bobby went back to his book. 

“ That's easy for you to say,” Dean huffed. “If Lucifer burns this mother down and I could've done something, guess what, that's on me.”

“You can't give up, son.” Bobby’s voice softened a little.

“You're not my father.” Dean snorted. “And you ain't in my shoes.”

I could see how Bobby’s face fell just the smallest bit at Dean’s words. I cuffed Dean on the arm. “Hey.” But I didn’t give him a reason, he should’ve known. 

Bobby, meanwhile, had pulled a revolver out of his desk drawer, plus a bullet out of his breast pocket. He was contemplating it. 

Dean looked over at Bobby. “What is that?”

The lore-gatherer sighed. “That's the round I mean to put through my skull.” He set it on the desk with a small thunk. “Every morning I look at it. I think: "Maybe today is the day I flip the lights out." But I don't do it. I never do it. You know why? Because I promised  _ you _ I wouldn't give up!” 

Dean looked sightly chastised at that, but before he could say anything Cas and I both gasped and grabbed our heads. There had just been a huge wave of power that hit my shields like a freight train. 

“Cas, Jade, you okay?”

“No.” We both ground out in unison. Getting one’s mental shields hit hurt like hell.

“What's wrong?” Sam got up from his seat.

“Something's happening.” Cas looked up at me. I nodded. 

“Where?” 

We didn’t answer Dean’s question as Cas and I disappeared at the same time. 

\---------------------------

We appeared in a forest, where a grave had been disturbed. Trees were pulled up by their roots in a circle around the grave. It looked eerily similar to the site of Dean’s revival. Cas crouched down to examine the earth. I looked over his shoulder.

Not two seconds later, I whirled around as an angel charged towards us. I quickly summoned my knives and Cas blocked the first attack with his angel blade. I was looking for an opening when Cas locked blades with the lackey. It was a good thing honestly, as another angel was coming up behind the battling pair. 

I intercepted the second angel, and both Cas and I managed to take down our opponents. When I was done with mine, I took both beings’ angel blades and stored them in my pocket space.  _ ‘Finally, I’ve been needing one of these. Two is even better.’ _

Cas moved over to the center of the explosion circle. He shifted through the dirt and uncovered a human hand. It was moving. I rushed over and stomped the ground. The earth helped pushed the person to the surface. I brushed some dirt from the boy’s face, and inhaled sharply. 

_ ‘Barzûlegûr!’ _

Cas swung the unconscious boy over his shoulder and popped away. I followed seconds later. 

\---------------------------

“Boys!” I called as I appeared. Cas set him on the couch by the widow.

Dean and Sam came rushing back into the room. They paused as they took in the extra person in the room. 

“Who is it?” Bobby could tell they recognized the boy.

“That's our brother.” Sam told him, slightly shocked..

“Wait a minute.” Bobby wheeled in front of his desk. “Your brother? Adam?”

“Cas, Jade, what the hell?” Dean turned for an explanation.

“ - Angels.” I went to the sink and got a towel as Cas explained our sudden disappearance. 

“ Angels? Why?” Dean looked the Adam over. 

Cas moved towards the boy and put a hand over his head. “I know one thing for sure. We need to hide him. Now.” His palm glowed for a second, as he carved Adam’s ribs, then Adam woke up with a gasp. 

“Where am I?”

“It's okay.” Sam held his hands up. “Just relax. You're safe.”

“Who the hell are you?” Adam sat up and was looking around at the men and me.

“You're gonna find this a little-” Dean corrected himself. “-A lot crazy, but we're actually your brothers.”

“It's the truth. John Winchester is our father too.” Sam smiled tentatively. “See, I'm Sam -”

Adam frowned and interrupted. “Yeah, and I'm sure that's Dean. I know who you are.”

“How?” Dean wanted to know how he knew about the brothers. 

“They warned me about you.” Adam’s glared at Sam and Dean.

“Who did,” Sam pressed.

“The angels. Now, where the hell is Zachariah?”

Both Winchester boys frowned deeper after Adam’s little exclamation, but I managed to persuade all three to let Adam clean up before they questioned him any more. 

\--------------------------------------

“So why don't you just tell us everything. Start from the beginning.”

Adam was in some of the boys’ extra clothes, cleaned up. He shrugged. “Well, I was dead and in heaven. Except it kind of looked like my prom. I was making out with this girl. Her name was Kristin McGee.”

Dean smirked from his spot sitting backwards in a chair. “That sounds like heaven. Did you get to third base?”

“Ahem.” Sam glared at his older brother, then he turned back to Adam. “Just, uh Just keep going.”

“Well, these angels, they popped out of nowhere and they told me that I'm chosen.” 

“For what?”

“To save the world.” Adam looked vaguely proud at his statement.

“How are you gonna do that?”

“Me and some archangel are gonna kill the devil.” He said it as if it was completely normal.

“What archangel?”

“Michael.” Adam frowned as he tried to remember. “I'm his sword or vessel… or something. I don't know.”

“Well- Well, that's insane.”

“Not necessarily.” Cas pointed out.

“How do you mean?” Dean turned to our resident angel.

“Maybe they're moving on from you, Dean.”

“Wait. That doesn't make sense,” Sam protested.

Cas shrugged. “He's John Winchester's bloodline, Sam's brother. It's not perfect, but it's possible.”

“It is,” I added. “He does fit what they want, if a bit of a stretch.”

“You gotta be kidding me.” Sam just looked confused. “Why would they do this?”

“Maybe they're desperate. Maybe they wrongly assumed Dean would be brave enough.” Cas gave Dean a pointed look. 

Dean glared right back.“You know what? Blow me, Cas.”

“Look. No way.” Sam got the conversation back on track. “After everything that's happened? All that crap about destiny, suddenly the angels have a plan B? Does that smell right to anybody?” He looked around at the rest of us.

Adam piped up. “You know, this has been a really moving family reunion but I got a thing, so-” He stood up and made to leave.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Sam held a hand out. “No, no, no. Sit down. Just listen, okay? Please.”

“Unbelievable.” Adam reluctantly sat back down.

“Now, Adam, the angels are  _ lying to you _ . They're full of crap.” Sam turned to his younger brother.

Adam chuckled derisively. “Yeah, I don't think so.”

“Really?” Sam snorted. “Why not?”

“Um, because they're angels.”

Sam tried to break through the lies the angels had fed Adam. “Did they tell you they were gonna roast half the planet?”

“They said the fight might get hairy.” Adam shrugged and tilted his head. “But it is the devil. So we gotta stop him.”

“Yeah. But there is another way.” I could tell Sam was really trying to not let his temper get the better of him.

“Great. What is it?” Adam looked around.

“Well, we're working on the power of love.” Dean suggested sarcastically from his seat.

“How's that going?” Adam replied just as sarcastically. 

“Mm. Not good.”

Sam butted in again. “Look, Adam. You don't know me from a hole in the wall, I know but I'm begging you. Please. Just trust me.”

“Give me some time.” Adam was still wary. “Give me one good reason.”

There was a pause. “...Because we're blood.” Sam finally got out. I caught the eye-roll Dean made at Sam’s words.

Adam was quiet for a few seconds before he looked up again, fire in his eyes. “You got no right to say that to me.”

“You're still John's boy,” Bobby tried.

“No. John Winchester was some guy who took me to a baseball game once a year. I don't have a dad.” Adam was almost spitting out the words. “So we may be blood, but we are  _ not  _ family. My  _ mom _ is my family. And if I do my job, I get to see her again. So no offense, but  _ she's  _ the one I give a rat's ass about. Not you.”

“Yeah, fair enough.” Sam sighed and nodded. “But if you have one good memory of Dad, just one, then you'll give us a little more time.  _ Please. _ ”

Adam thought for a good minute before nodding his assent.

\-----------------

“Going somewhere?”

Sam and I interrupted Adam’s attempt to leave. It was night time, and Bobby was in his study. Dean was upstairs.

“Out for a beer.” Adam turned around. 

“Great. We got beer. Have a seat.” Adam sighed, but moved over to small breakfast table and sat down. I sat down across from him. Sam grabbed three bottles from the fridge. He handed me my soda, and Adam a beer. 

“You got an opener?” Adam was frowning over how to open the cap. 

I rolled my eyes good but smiled as Sam held his beer out. I held my hand over the cap, which popped off after a second. Adam stared. I did the same to my bottle, then held my hand out for Adams. He hesitantly held out his bottle and I opened it for him with an easy smile. 

Adam took a long drink, then got down to what he wanted to say. “Great. You know, you pitch this whole dewy-eyed bromance thing, but truth is I'm on lock-down, aren't I?”

Sam frowned. “Adam you may not believe it, but Dad was trying to protect you, keeping you from all this.”

“Yeah, well, I guess the monster that ate me didn't get that memo,” Adam said with no little amount of bitterness.

Sam balked a little. “You remember that.”

“ _ Oh _ , yeah.”

Sam paused, then forged on. “Still. Trust me. The one thing worse than seeing Dad once a year was seeing him all year.” I winced at Sam’s words.  _ ‘That wasn’t the best thing to say, Sam.’ _

“Do you know how full of crap you are?” Adam snorted. 

“What?”

“Really. You see, it was me and it was my mom. That's it. She worked the graveyard at the hospital. I cooked my own dinners, I put myself to bed.” He snapped. “So say whatever you want about our dad, but the truth is, I would've taken anything. All right?”

“Look, if we had known we had a brother -” 

“Well, you didn't, so-” Adam cut him off.

Sam kept talking. “We would've found you. Look, I can't change the past. I wish I could. But from here on out -”

Adam spoke up again. “What? We gonna hop in the Family Truckster, pop on down to Walley World?”

Sam paused, then smirked. “Tell you one thing, attitude like that you'd fit right in around here.”

Adam’s frown lifted a little. Not into a smile, but the creases between his eyebrows went away. We all finished our drinks in silence. 

\---------------------

“Cas, not for nothing but the last person who looked at me like that, I got laid.” Dean spoke over Sam and my shoulders to Cas, who was staring at him from outside the panic room door.

Sam had brought Dean down there to keep him in the room until we could figure something out. 

He turned to Cas. “Why don't you go keep an eye on Adam.” Cas frowned, but turned away towards the stairs. He gestured with his hands and the door slammed shut. 

“Is this really necessary?” Dean turned back to Sam and me. 

Sam threw his hands up. “Well I mean, we got our hands full, Dean. A house full of flight risks.”

“I'm not letting him do it.” Dean glanced towards the ceiling.

“Adam?” Sam shook his head. “I'm not either.”

“No, you're not getting me,” Dean started. 

Sam interrupted. “No, no, no. I get you perfectly. But I'm not letting you do it either.”

“That kid's not taking a bullet for me.”

“Dean.-”

“I'm serious. I mean, think about how many people we've gotten killed, Sam. Mom, Dad, Jess, Jo, Ellen-. Should I keep going?” Dean was frowning hard.

“It's not like we pulled the trigger.”

Dean snorted. “We might as well have. I'm tired, man. I'm tired of fighting who I'm supposed to be.”

“You think you could take a half-second and stop trying to sacrifice yourself for a change? Maybe we could actually stick together,” Sam snapped a little.

“I don't think so.” Dean didn’t rise to Sam’s tone.

“Why not? Dean, seriously. Tell me. I wanna know.”

“I just- I don't believe.” Dean sounded tired.

“In what?”

“In you. I mean, I don't I don't know whether it's gonna be demon blood or some other demon chick or what.” He shook his head. “But I do know they're gonna find a way to turn you.”

“So you're saying I'm not strong enough?” Sam’s expression was one of hurt.

“You're angry, you're self-righteous. Lucifer is gonna wear you to the prom. It's just a matter of time.”

“Don't say that to me. Not you. Of all people.” I went over and rubbed Sam’s back a little in comfort. He had tears in his eyes. 

“I don't want to. But it's the truth. And when Satan takes you over there's gotta be somebody there to fight him.” Dean pointed to the ceiling. “And it ain't gonna be that kid. So it's gotta be me.”

Sam shook his head and left the room. I just gave Dean a long look before phasing and following Sam out. 

Both Sam and Bobby were reading when I got to the living room. Adam was asleep on the couch. 

\----------------------

It was about three hours later when my head snapped towards the door to the basement. A blast of power had burst in the panic room. I was upstairs in one of the bedrooms, but by the time I got downstairs, the front door was open, and the Impala was driving out onto the road.

I woke Sam and Bobby up. 

“Where's Cas?” Sam asked as he put on his jacket. 

“Blown to Oz.” I showed him the picture I took of the angel-banishing sigil in the panic room. 

Sam exhaled harshly. “Look, I'll get Dean. He couldn't have gone too far. Just watch Adam.”

“How?” Bobby gave a pointed look down at his legs. “You may have noticed, he's got a slight height advantage.”

“Then cuff him to Jade. I don't know. Just watch him.” Sam stormed out the house.

\---------------------

“Bobby. Jade. What do you mean Adam is gone?” Sam had come back after an hour of searching.

Bobby frowned at Sam’s tone. “Should I say it in Spanish?”

“He's gone how? What the hell, Bobby?!” Sam threw his hands up. 

“Watch your tone, boy,” Bobby snapped back. “He was right in front of Jade and me, and he disappeared into thin air.”

“Because the angels took him.” Cas appeared, supporting an unconscious Dean. 

“What the hell happened to him?” Sam looked at the cuts on Dean’s face. 

“Me.” Castiel set Dean down on the couch. 

“What do you mean the angels took Adam?” Bobby turned his wheelchair towards the angel. “You branded his ribs, didn't you?”

“Yes,” Cas replied shortly. “Adam must have tipped them.”

“How?” Sam was frowning, as was his normal expression those days.

“I don't know. Maybe in a dream.” Cas moved away from Dean. 

“Where would they have taken him?”

\----------------------------

“How you feeling?” I looked up from my book at Sam’s words. We were back in the panic room, and Dean was just waking up. He jerked his arm a little. It was cuffed to the cot. 

Dean groaned. “Word to the wise. Don't piss off the nerd angels.” He sat up as best he could with his arm cuffed. “So how's it going?”

Sam clasped his hands in front of him, and leaned his elbows on his knees. “Adam is gone. Angels have him.”

“Where?” Dean perked up at the news. 

“The room where they took you.” Sam leaded back in his chair. 

“You sure?”

I nodded. “Cas and I did a recon.”

“And,” Dean prompted me. 

“And place is crawling with angels.” I chuckled. “Pretty much a no-shot-in-hell, Hail-Mary kind of thing.”

“So the usual.” Dean tilted his head. “What are you gonna do?”

“For starters? Bringing you with.” Sam gestured to me. I huffed at his laziness, but held a hand out and unlocked Dean’s cuff. 

“Excuse me?” Dean rubbed at his wrist. 

“There are too many of them. We can't do it alone and you're pretty much the only game in town.”

“Isn't that a bad idea?” Dean looked at his brother with wariness.

“Cas and Bobby think so. I'm not so sure.” Sam stood up. 

Neither am I,” I added. 

“Well, they're right. Either it's a trap to get me there to make me say yes, or it's not a trap and I'm gonna say yes anyway.” Dean’s brow rose. “And I will. I'll do it. Fair warning.”

“No, you won't. When push shoves, you'll make the right call.”

“You know, tables were turned I'd let you rot in here. Hell, I have let you rot in here.” Dean stood up as well.

Sam took a deep breath and let it out. “Yeah, well. I guess I'm not that smart.”

“I don't get it, Sam. Why are you doing this?”

“Because. “ Sam opened the door. “You're still my big brother.”

\-----------------

“Where the hell are we?” Dean looked around.

Castiel and I had just flashed Sam and Dean to where we had located Adam. Well, outside of the place where Adam was. The actual room was too warded for us to get through, especially with the boys.

“Van Nuys, California.” Cas started walking.

“Where is the beautiful room?”

“In there.” Cas motioned towards the warehouse next to us. 

“The beautiful room is in an abandoned factory in Van Nuys, California?” Dean questioned as we approached a side door on the building.

“Where did you think it was?”

Dean shrugged. “I don't know. Jupiter? A blade of grass? Not Van Nuys.” We stopped in front of the door. “Tell me why you guys don't just grab Adam and shazam out of there?”

“Because there are at least ten angels in there.” I jabbed my thumb towards the door. “And it’s warded, I couldn’t get him out anyways.”

“You two are fast.” Dean glanced between Cas and me.

“They're faster.” Cas replied. He drew his angel blade. I took out my two re-appropriated ones. “We'll clear them out, you two grab the boy. This is our only chance.”

Dean cocked an eyebrow. “Both of you are gonna take on ten angels?”

“Yes.” Cas answered shortly.

“Isn't that dangerous?” Dean caught Castiel’s eyes.

“Maybe it is.But if I die, then I won't have to watch you fail.” Cas stared right back. “Sorry, Dean. I don't have the same faith in you that Sam and Jade do.”

Sam glanced down as Cas pulled out a box cutter. “What are you gonna do with that?”

\-----------------------

Casiel and I went into the warehouse as the door swung shut behind us. It was dark, but I could still see fine.

We walked further into the area, to see a large box about as big as a shipping container, but more square, in the midden of the room. 

Cas started circling the box, looking for an entrance. Just as we found the door, an angel jumped us. I dispatched him quickly as two more angels came at us. Cas took them down. We both stood back to back as seven other angels surrounded us. They didn’t move closer.

“What are you waiting for?! Come on,” Cas dropped his blade as he egged the angels on. I held out a hand and his blade slapped into my palm. ‘ _ I’ll keep it safe until you get back, Cas.’ _

The angels started forward and Cas ripped open his shirt. He slapped his bleeding palm against his chest, where an angel banishing sigil was carved. In a flash of light, all the angels, including Castiel, were gone. 

I panted a little as my eyes cleared. Then, I rushed over to the door we’d came through and poked my head out. “Sam, Dean, come on.”

The boys quickly followed me. They glanced at the three dead angels on the ground, before moving on to the box.

Dean opened the door to reveal the room where he had been kept. I followed, cloaked. He rushed in and went to Adam on the ground. 

“Adam. Hey.” 

“Hey.” Adam had blood all down his chin. “You came for me.”

“Yeah, well, you're family.” Dean slung one of Adam’s arms over his shoulder.

“Dean, it's a trap.” Adam got out. 

“I figured.” Dean tilted his head as he straightened up.

“Dean, please.” Zachariah popped up behind Dean, Adam, and I. “Did you really think it would be that easy?”

“Did you?” Dean retorted as Sam tried to stab Zachariah from behind with one of my angel blades. Zachariah was too fast though, and he blocked Sam’s strike and flung him away. I summoned my blade back to me.

“Sam?” Dean glanced at his brother, before Zachariah caught his attention again.

“You know what I've learned from this experience, Dean? Patience.” The uptight angel flicked a finger at Adam. Adam crumpled to the ground spitting up more blood. 

“Adam?” Dean looked back up at Zachariah. “Let him go, you son of a bitch.”

“I thought I was downsized for sure. And for us, a firing, pretty damn literal. But I should've trusted the boss man. It's all playing out like he said. You, me, your hemorrhaging brothers.” Sam started to gag on blood from his spot on the floor where Zachariah had flung him. “You're finally ready, right? There's no other choice. There's never been a choice.”

I uncloaked and moved over to help Sam. Zachariah frowned at my presence, but I guess he remembered that he couldn’t do anything to me.

“Stop it. Stop it right now.” Dean glanced between his two brothers.

“In exchange for what?” Zachariah was smirking.

“Damn it, Zachariah. Stop it, please. I'll do it.” Dean whispered the last part.

“I'm sorry, what was that?” Zachariah turned from watching Adam writhe on the ground.

Dean spoke up. “Okay, yes. The answer is yes.”

“Dean-”

He ignored me. “Do you hear me? Call Michael down, you bastard.”

“How do I know you're not lying?” Zachariah was being cautious, but I could tell he was excited about closing the deal.

“Do I look like I'm lying?” Dean glared at the angel.

Zachariah sighed, but turned away and started changing in Enochian. Once, he was done, he turned back to Dean. “He's coming.”

Dean smirked. “Of course, I have a few conditions.”

“What?”

“A few people whose safety you have to guarantee before I say yes.” He took a step closer to Zachariah.

“Sure, fine,” The sleazy angel said flippantly. “Make a list.”

Dean took another step.“But most of all, Michael can't have me until he disintegrates you.”

“What did you say?” Zachariah’s smile dropped of his face.

“I said, before Michael gets one piece of this sweet ass, he has to turn you into a piece of charcoal.” Dean poked a finger in Zachariah’s chest.

“You think Michael is gonna go for that?” The angel tilted his head.

“Who's more important to him now?” Dean’s smirk grew wider. “You or me?”

The lighting in the room started to get brighter, slowly. A ringing sound also started to emanate from outside the room.

Zachariah grabbed Dean’s jacket in both hands. “You listen to me. You are nothing but a maggot inside a worm's ass. Do you know who I am after I deliver you to Michael?”

“Expendable,” Dean snarked back.

“Michael is not gonna kill me.”

“Maybe not.” Dean dropped his smirk. “But I am.”An angel blade dropped into his hands from his sleeve. Dean gripped it and shoved it through Zachariah’s chin into his skull, killing him.

Dean dropped the body as the light and whining got louder. Sam had stopped spitting up blood, so I helped him to his feet as Dean helped Adam. “Come on. Come on.”

“Can you walk?” I heard Dean ask Adam behind me. 

“Yeah.”

“Okay, come on,” Dean called to us. “Come on. Move it.”

Sam and I were out first, with Dean right behind us. I turned around to make sure everyone got out just in time to see the door slam shut before Adam could get out. 

“No. No.” Dean slammed against the door. 

“Dean! Help! It won't open!” All of us could hear Adam calling out from inside. “Dean! Help! Dean!”

“Hold on. We'll get you out.” Dean tried the door handed but jerked his hand back as it burnt him. “Just hold on! Adam. Can you hear me?” 

The light faded from inside the room. Dean cautiously tried the door again, and it opened. “Adam?” But, it opened into a broken, rundown room, that looked like it belonged in a long abandoned house.

\---------------------

I flashed the boys back to Bobby’s where they packed up, and we’d hit the road. 

Sam broke the silence after a few hours. “You think Adam is okay?”

Dean shook his head. “Doubt it. Cas either. But we'll get them.”

The conversation lulled for a minute, before Sam asked a question. “So?”

Dean glanced at Sam “So what?” 

I kept quiet as possible, to let the brothers have their moment.

“I saw your eyes. You were totally rocking the yes back there. So, what changed your mind?”

“Honestly?” Dean kept his eyes on the road and didn’t look at Sam. “The damnedest thing. I mean, the world is ending, the walls are coming down on us. I look over to you and all I can think about is: "The stupid son of a bitch brought me here." I just didn't wanna let you down.”

“You didn't.” Sam smiled a little. “You almost did. But you didn't.”

“I owe you an apology.-”

Sam cut Dean off. “No, man. No, you don't.”

But, Dean kept going. “Just let me say this. I don't know if it's being a big brother or what, but to me, you've always been this snot-nosed kid that I've had to keep on the straight and narrow. I think we both know that's not you anymore.” Dean snorted softly. “I mean, hell, if you're grown-up enough to find faith in me least I can do is return the favor. So screw destiny. Right in the face. I say we take the fight to them, do it our way.” Finally, he looked at Sam.

Sam smirked back at his brother. “Sounds good.”

I smiled at the determination in their eyes as we sped down the road. 


	9. Chapter 9

“Whew.” Dean shook his head of water. Sam and I brushed our soaked hair out of our faces. It was raining cats and dogs outside, so Dean had pulled us over. Luckily, (Or unluckily) he had managed to find a hotel in the gale. 

We had been following leads on plans to beat Lucifer, but so far none had panned out. 

Sam and I looked around. “Nice digs for once.” 

The hotel was very well kept, and looked like it belonged in Hollywood. Sam, Dean, and I headed over to the front desk. 

A well dressed man was standing behind the counter. He was typing on the keyboard at a, frankly, alarming speed. For all my experience, I had never seen a man type that fast. His fingers were almost blurs. I frowned and just to be on the safe side, lowered my shields. I took another look at the man. He had an odd aura around him. It was powerful, but not like any I had ever seen. Though, it did remind me of Thor’s power, just not quite the same. 

I decided to keep the observation about the being (It certainly wasn’t human) to myself for now. No need to alarm the boys just when they get a break.

“Busy night.” Dean commented on the being’s speed. 

The man smiled and shrugged. “Any port in a storm, I guess.” He slid an information paper to Dean.“If you could just fill this out, please.”

“Yeah.” Dean nodded as he started to write down information.

While Dean was occupied, the being reached a hand out and, so quickly even I only caught the barest hints of movement, nicked Dean’s neck. 

Apparently he noticed my eyes follow his movement, because he frowned at me. But, he didn’t say anything. I guess it was because I didn’t comment. 

Sam and Dean hadn’t noticed, so the being was able to comment on the cut he had made. “Sir, I think you got a little shaving nick there.” He produced a tissue with a flourish.

Dean frowned, but accepted it and touched the side of his neck. Blood came away on the tissue. 

The being distracted him by holding up a set of keys. “Your key.”

Dean took them. “Oh, thanks. Hey, you have a coffee shop?”

The desk man gestured to a large set of double doors. “Buffet, all you can eat. Best pie in the tristate area.”

“You don't say.” Dean was grinning.

Dean ushered us down to the eating area. Sam and I picked out a table while Dean got food. I discretely sped up the drying of our coats by concentrating hot air around our jackets.

On his way back, I saw Dean get shot down by a lady he tried to hit on. 

When he got back to our table, he dug into his food. “Sam, Jade, unpucker, guys. Eat something.”

“We should hit the road, Dean.” Sam was looking around at all the other people.

“In this storm?” Dean gestured with his fork. “What? It's practically-”

“It's biblical.” Sam finished for him. “Exactly. It's frigging Noah's ark out there and we're eating pie.”

“How many hours of sleep did you get this week? What, three? Four?” Dean gave his brother a pointed look. “And Jade got even less, regardless of her super powers. Bobby's got his feelers out. We've talked with every Hoodoo man and root woman in 12 states.”

Sam huffed. “Yeah, well, I'm not giving up.”

“Nobody's giving up. Especially me.” Dean took another bite of his pie. “We're gonna find a way to beat the devil. Soon, I can feel it. And we will find Cas, we will find Adam. But you two are no good to me burnt out.”

“Yeah. Yeah, okay.” Sam sighed, but he got up to get some food.

I stayed seated. Dean tilted his head and raised an eyebrow at me. “Come on. We actually got the night off for once. Let's try to enjoy it.” 

“Yeah, well, the desk man is giving me some weird vibes. I don’t like it here.” 

Dean frowned. “It’s probably you being tired. You always get more paranoid the less sleep you get.”

“That might be it.” I could tell Dean wasn’t really hearing me, but I let it go. He was right in one respect, this was the first break we had gotten in a while.  _ ‘Not that it will be much of a break.’  _

\------------------------

After we were done eating, we all headed back up to our room. When we stopped so Dean could open the door, he spotted a couple basically making out in the hall. Dean smirked and nudged Sam so he would look. 

Sam shook his head. “Oh, what are you, 12?”

“I'm young at heart.” Dean got the room open and we walked in. He whistled. “Wow, look at this. We're like Rockefellers. Chocolates. Ohh.” Dean glanced at the chocolate on Sam’s pillow. “You want yours?”

“Knock yourself out.” 

Dean snatched up the sweet and looked around. He held up a DVD. “Whoa, Casa Erotica 13 on demand. “ He caught Sam and my looks. “What?”

“Isn't this place kind of in the middle of nowhere?” Sam gestured to the fancy room.

“So?” Dean shrugged.

“So, what's a four-star hotel doing on a no-star highway?” Sam rolled his eyes. 

Before, I could pipe up, the three of us could hear loud giggling from the next room over. Dean grinned, and Sam scoffed at his brother. The giggling went on for a few more seconds, before the wall shook, hard, and buckled a little. Dean’s smile flew off his face, and we all quickly made for the door. 

“Hello?” I had gotten us into the room. There was no one there. 

“Hello?” Sam checked the bathroom while Dean and I looked over the main room. 

I crouched to the carpet when I spotted a glint of metal on the floor. It was an engagement ring. I sent a questioning look back at the brothers, who sent the same look back in return. 

\------------------------------

“The room next to ours- The couple that are joined at the lips? Have you seen them,” Dean asked the desk man. The brothers had decided to try and see where the couple had disapeared to. 

“Mr. And Mrs. Logan? The honeymooners?” The being hit a few keys. “They checked out.” He glanced between the three of us. “Is something the matter?”

“They checked out?” None of us believed the being.

“Mm-hm. Just now.”

“Really?” Sam frowned. “It sort of seemed like they were in the middle of something.”

Dean nodded along. “It's kind of weird for honeymooners to check out without this.” He held up the ring I had found. 

The desk man frowned.“Oh, dear.” He took the ring from Dean. “I'll just put that right in the lost and found. Don't you worry.” When we didn’t leave, he looked back up. “Is there anything else I can help you with?”

“No, no. We're good.” Dean gave a fake smile.

“Super fantastic.” The desk man turned away to, presumably, put the ring up.

The boys and I turned away and walked out of hearing distance.

“Creepy,” Sam commented.

“Broke the needle,” Dean agreed. 

I rolled my eyes. “I told you guys, there is something wrong here.”

Dean conceded the point with a nod. “Well, I'll scope out the joint and you two keep an eye on Norman Bates over here.” He ticked his head towards the desk man. “I mean, one night off, is that too much to ask?” Dean muttered as he moved off. 

\----------------

Sam and I snuck around the motel. The desk man had left his post. The younger Winchester and I were following him down a hallway. We lost him for a minute. I saw a blur come at us, then disappear. Sam reached up and felt his neck. There was blood on his hand.

I immediately morphed my clothes into a body suit, to cover every inch of my skin below my chin. It was flesh toned so it wasn’t very visible. Sam looked around, but we didn’t see the being again.

\----------------------

Sam and I rejoined with Dean on our way back to the lobby. Dean told us about what he had seen. An elephant had turned into a man.

“An elephant?” Sam ‘s eyebrows raised.

“Yeah,” Dean nodded.

“Like, an  _ elephant _ ,” Sam repeated.

“Like full-on Babar.” Dean repeated as we made it to the lobby. 

“So, what the hell is-?” Sam noticed it first. The dining area and lobby were both completely empty. “Where is everybody?”   
  


We walked to the front door, and Sam tried to open it. 

Dean snorted. “Let me guess, it's locked.” 

I sighed and muttered to myself, “It’s kriffing Hotel California. I told you guys there was something wrong.”

Dean’s lip quirked at my reference, before he became serious again. “So, what, the roaches check in, they don't check out?”

Sam thought for a second. “Think about how we got here. That detour on I-90? The frigging hurricane?”

“You saying we were lead here?” Dean gestured to the lobby. 

“Like rats in a maze,” Sam agreed.

\----------------------

“Please be tomato soup, please be tomato soup.”

The boys and I were snooping around the kitchen, and Dean had stumbled upon a pot of boiling red liquid. He picked up the ladel, which caused an eyeball to float to the surface. All three of us recoiled.

“Motel Hell.” Dean dropped the ladel.

Sam focused on the deep freezer, and we all walked closer. Sam bent a little to try and look through the frosted window. He jumped back as a hand slammed into the other side. 

“Help us!” People, the other patrons, were stuck inside. “Get us out!”

I immediately set a hand against the lock to try and open the door, but the going was slow. Besides the metal being slow because of the temperature, there was a locking charm on the door. 

“Hurry up.” Dean and Sam were watching at me. 

“I'm going as fast as I-” I looked up to see two hulking men behind the boys. “As I can.”

“There's somebody behind us, isn't there?” Dean sighed when he noticed where my eyes had focused. I nodded. 

The two men grabbed Sam and Dean, and one held a knife to Sam’s throat. “Orders are to cut his throat if you don’t come quietly.”

I glanced between the knife and Sam’s eyes. I raised my hands.

\-------------------------

We were dragged/led to a private dinning room. The boys and I looked around. There were people there of all ethnicities. I lowered my shields the smallest bit. All of them had auras of the supernatural. They were wearing name tags, and I read some. Odin, Ganesh, and Kali, to name a few. The beings were gods.

“Something tells me this isn't a Shriner convention.” Dean quipped as the boys and I were forced into chairs. 

The desk-man came into the room wheeling a food cart. “Dinner is served.” He lifted the dome to reveal the severed head of a man, along with other pieces of raw meat.

All the gods in the room gave polite applause. 

“Ladies and gentlemen our guests of honor have arrived.” A spotlight fell on us as one of the men, Baldur by his name tag, introduced us.

The deskman, Mercury, came over and took the knife from the grunt. I tensed as he pressed it onto Sam’s neck. A thin trickle of blood rolled down to stain Sam’s collar. Dean was greatly disgruntled at the threat to his brother. 

“Ah, ah. I see one twitch, and they’re dessert,” He smirked. I relaxed a little, just enough to let him ease up on the knife. I knew that Mercury was fast enough to kill Sam before I could blink if he chose to.

\------------------

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming.” The first course, a salad, had finished as Baldur stood up and started to speak. “In all my centuries, I never thought I'd see this. This many gods under one roof.”

“Gods?” I nodded at Dean’s whisper. 

“And before we get down to brass tacks, some ground rules: No slaughtering each other, curb your wrath. Oh, and keep your hands off the local virgins.” Baldur looked at some of the gods. “We're trying to keep a low profile here.”

“Oh, we are so, so screwed.” Dean muttered to Sam and me.

“And we all know why we're here. The Judeo-Christian apocalypse looms over us.” Baldur continued. “I know, we've all had our little disagreements in the past, but the time has come to put those aside and look towards the future. Because if we don't, we won't have one.” He gestured over to the Winchesters and me. “Now, we do have three very valuable bargaining chips: Michael and Lucifer's vessels, and their pet, a mystic. The question is: What do we do now? Anybody have any bright ideas? Speak up. This is a safe room.”

One of the gods spoke in mandarin. He sounded angry.

“I don't like his tone.” Dean quipped.

“Kill them? Why?” Ganesh argued back at the Asian god. “So the angels here can bring them back again?”

“I don't know what everybody's getting so worked up about.” Odin butted in. “This is just a couple of angels having a slap fight. It's no Armageddon. Everybody knows when the world comes to end, the great serpent Jörmungandr rises up and I myself will be eaten by a big wolf.”

The Asian god spoke up again, and Odin retorted,“Oh, yeah? And why is that? Because your beliefs are so much more realistic? Whole world's getting carried around on the back of a giant turtle. Ha! Give me a break.”

The Asian god gave a retort that sounded challenging.

“What are you gonna do?” Odin stood up as the other god snapped a reply. “You watch your mouth, boy.”

The two gods started full our arguing, and most of the others were watching the match intently. Mercury’s grip on the knife loosened as he tried to calm the two pagans down.

I took the chance and grabbed the knife telekenetically. I nodded at Sam that it was okay to move out from under the blade. 

The boys tried to used to arguing as a distraction to slip out the room, but apparently one goddess wasn’t as invested in the discussion. 

A chandelier crashed to the ground between the boys and the door. All the arguing stopped, as the gods turned to the noise, to see Dean and Sam out of their seats.

“Stay.” Kali, the goddess, motioned for Mercury to move back over to Sam. 

Dean and I sat down as Mercury replaced his knife against Sam’s throat. 

Once we were seated, Kali addressed the other gods. “We have to fight. The archangels? The only thing they understand is violence. This ends in blood, there is no other way. It's them or us.”

“With all due respect, ma'am- we haven't even tried talking to them.” Mercury piped up from behind Sam. 

Kali just stared at the god, and he started to choke. Baldur laid a hand on Kali’s shoulder. “Kali.”

Kali stopped and Mercury caught his breath as she purred, “Who asked you?”

The doors to the room opened as a voice called out, “Can't we all just get along?” 

“Gab- Ugh.” The archangel cut of Dean as he almost gave the archangel away. “Tsk, tsk. Sam, Dean. It's always wrong place, worst time with you muttonheads, huh?” He turned and smiled at me. “Still babysitting these two, Jade?”

“Loki.” Baldur had stood up at the intrusion.

“Baldur.” Loki turned towards the god. “Good seeing you too. I guess my invitation got lost in the mail.”

“Why are you here,” Baldur ground out.

“To talk about the elephant in the room.- Not you.-” He added as Ganesh started to get up. “The apocalypse. We can't stop it, gang. But first things first.” Loki turned back to the boys and I. “The adults need to have a little conversation. Check you later.”

Loki teleported us to a room in the hotel. 

“Okay, you did that?-” Dean stuttered at the surprise change in scenery. “Holy crap.”

“- Yeah, tell me about it,” Sam added. “By the way, next time I say "let's keep driving"  _ let's keep driving.” _

Dean shook his head. “- Okay, yeah. Next time. All right, so, what's our next move?”

Sam shrugged. “I don't know. We grab those poor saps out of the freezer. Bust them out, gank a few freaks if we're lucky.”

“And when are you ever lucky?” We all turned at Gabriel’s voice. He was sitting on the couch behind us. I went over and hugged the being. He returned it. 

“You know what? Bite me, Gabriel,” Dean retorted.

“- Later, big boy.”

Dean chuckled sarcastically and threw his hands up. “I should've known. This had your stink all over it from the jump.”

“You think I'm behind this?” Gabe got up from the couch. “Please. I'm the Costner to your Houston. I'm here to  _ save _ your ass.”

“You wanna pull us out of the fire?” Dean gestured to Sam and me.

“Bingo.” Gabe grinned. “Those gods are gonna dust you or use you as bait. Either way, you're uber-boned.” 

“Wow,” Dena rolled his eyes. “Because a couple months ago, you were telling us that we need to play our roles. You were uber-boning us.”

“Ohh, the end is still nigh.” Gabe walked around the boys. “Michael and Lucifer are gonna dance the lambada. But not tonight, not here.”

“And why do you care,” Dean asked.

“I don't care. But me and Kali… we had a thing. Chick was all hands. What can I say, I'm sentimental.” Gabe shrugged.

“Do they have a chance against Satan?”

Dean turned to his brother. “Really, Sam?”

“You got a better idea, Dean?” Sam snarked back. 

“It's a bad idea.” Gabe shook his head. “Lucifer's gonna turn them into finger paint. Let's get going while the going's good.”

“Okay, great.” Dean gestured to the archangel. “Just zap us out of here.”

“Would if I could. But Kali's got you by the short and curlies.” Gabe pointed at the boys.

I shot Gabriel a glare for his coarse explanation.

He rolled his eyes and sighed, changed his answer. “It's a blood spell. - You boys are on a leash.”

“What does that mean,” Dean asked. 

“Means it's time for a little of the old black magic.” Gabe summoned a spray bottle of mouth freshener and squirted some in his mouth. 

Dean frowned. “Okay, whatever. We're gonna take the hors d'oeuvres in the freezer with us.”

“Forget it.” Gabe got serious. “It's gonna be hard enough sneaking you mooks out of here.”

“They called you Loki, right,” Dean started. “They don't really know who you are.”

“Told you. I'm in witness protection.” Gabe grinned. 

“Okay, well then. How about you do what we say, or we tell the Legion of Doom about your secret identity.” Dean took a step closer to Gabe. “They don't seem like a pro-angel crowd.”

“I'll take your voices away.” Gabe also took a step closer.

“We'll write.”

“I'll cut off your hands.”

“People are gonna be asking, "Why are you guys running around with no hands?" 

“Fine.” Gabe broke their staring contest. 

\--------------------------

The boys and I left the room and made our way to the lobby. We hid behind a wall as we heard screaming. 

“No! No! No! No! No! Stop! No! No!”

The three of us glanced around the corner. Two of the gods had a human on the front desk. 

“It's too late,” Sam whispered as the gods stabbed the man.

After the gods had left, Sam, Dean, and I made our way back to the kitchen and the freezer. I got to work on the lock again. 

While I was working, the two gods from earlier came back and started fighting with the boys. They eventually beat up the boys, and I was forced to go with them again.

\--------------------

We were roughly escorted back to the private dining room. Loki was already there, sitting, with Kali standing over him. 

“How long have you known?” Loki asked as the boys and I were made to sit.

“Long enough,” Kali replied. 

“How's the rescue going?” Dean quipped to Loki. Loki just rolled his eyes in return. 

“Well, surprise, surprise. The Trickster has tricked us.” Kali announced to the room. 

“Kali, don't.” Loki whispered. 

“You're mine now.” The goddess sat in Loki’s lap. “And you have something I want.” She stuck her hand into his jacket and pulled out a blade. “An archangel's blade. From the archangel Gabriel.” She brandished the weapon. 

All the other gods looked surprised at the reveal.

“Okay, okay. So I got wings. Like Kotex. But that doesn't make me any less right about Lucifer.” Gabe looked over the crowd.

“He's lying. He's a spy.” Kali supplied. 

“I'm not a spy. I'm a runaway. I'm trying to save you.” Gabe stared up at his former lover. “I know my brother, Kali. He should scare the living crap out of you. You can't beat him. I've skipped ahead, seen how this story ends.”

“Your story, not ours.” Kali rolled her eyes. “Westerners. I swear, the sheer arrogance. You think you're the only ones on Earth. You pillage and you butcher in your God's name. But you're not the only religion and he's not the only God. And now you think you can just rip the planet apart? You're wrong. There are billions of us, and we were here first.” She leaned down to Gabe’s ear. “If anyone gets to end this world it's me. I'm sorry.” 

And with that, she stabbed him. Light came from Gabriel’s eyes and mouth as he fell back, seemingly dead. 

“This is crazy.” I heard Mercury whisper to himself he left the room.

“They can die.” Kali held aloft the bloodied blade. “We can kill Lucifer.”

The gods were nodding along, when Dean stood up. “All right, you primitive screwheads, listen up.”

Sam stared up at his brother. “Are you out of your mind?”

“I'm out of options.” Dean replied. 

He turned back to the room. “Now, on any other given day, I'd be doing my damnedest to kill you, you filthy, murdering chimps.” He smiled as he started to walk around the room. “But, hey, desperate times. So even though I'd love nothing better than to slit your throats, you dicks, I'm gonna help you.” Dean reached the liquor bar and poured himself a drink. “I'm gonna help you ice the devil. And then we can all get back to ganking each other like normal.” He took a sip.”You want Lucifer? Well, dude's not in the Yellow Pages. But me and Sam, we can get him here.”

“How?” Kali arched a shaped brow.

Dena waggled his finger. “First, you let those main courses go, then we talk. Oh, we can either take on the devil together, or you lame-ass bitches can eat me. Literally.” He took a big gulp after that statement. 

\--------------------------------------

“Come on, everybody. Let's go, let's go, let's go.” Dean called as we ushered the people out the door. They all ran to their vehicles.

“All right, all right. Go, go, go. Get out of here.” 

The gods had agreed to Dean’s terms, and let him and me free the people. Sam was still in the dining room, as insurance. 

“Pst! Dean.” Both of us looked towards the Impala at the voice. It was Gabriel. “Don't look at me. Act natural. Get in.”

Dean and I got in the front seat. “Nothing natural about this. I thought you were dead.” Dean turned around to face the wayward archangel.

“You think I'd give Kali my real sword?” Gabe rolled his eyes. “That thing can kill me.”

“Then what do they have in there?” Dean gestured to the hotel.

“A fake. Made it out of a can of Diet Orange Slice.” Gabe smirked as he boasted. “So… go snag our blood, would you?”

“What?” Dean’s brow furrowed. 

“I heard you in there, Kali likes you.” Gabriel wiggled his eyebrows at Dean. “You can get close. Lift the plasma, then we vamoose.”

Dean thought for a second. “No. Hand over the real blade. Better yet, why don't you sack up and help us take down Lucifer?”

“You can't be serious.” The smile fell of Gabe’s face. 

“Deadly,” Dean replied.

The archangel scooted closer to Dean. “Since when are you butt buddies with monsters? That's all they are to you, aren't they?”

“All right. You know what? Sam was right. It's nuts, but it's the best idea I've heard. So unless you have a better one-”

“Well, good luck with that. Me, I'm blowing Jonestown. Lemmings wanna run off a cliff, that's their business.” Gabe went to pop away, but Dean’s words stopped him. 

“I see through you, you know. The smart-ass shell. The whole "I could give a crap" thing. Believe me, takes one to know one.”

“That so?” Gabe raised a brow.

“Yes. And maybe those freaks in there aren't blood, but they are family.”

“They just stabbed me in the frigging heart.” Gabe pointed to where an angel blade had recently been sheathed in his chest. 

“Maybe. But you still give a crap about them, don't you?” Dean’s gaze was intense. 

“Dean.-”

“They're gonna die in there without you.” He insisted to the archangel.

Gabe sighed. “I can't kill my brother.”

“Can't or won't?” Dean challenged. Gabriel didn’t respond. “That's what I thought.” He got out of the car. I stayed behind. 

“He’s right, you know.” 

Gabriel’s eyes jumped to mine. “Oh, really. You’re on his side?”

I nodded and took Gabe’s hand. “Yeah, I am, Gabe. But I can’t make this choice for you. It’s up to you to make the choice. Pick a side, or run.” With that, I let go of the trickster’s hand, and got out of the Impala.

\---------------------

I walked back in the dining room as Dean spilled the beans on Gabriel’s proclivity to life. Kali and Baldur were the only gods in the room.

“... briel? He's still kicking. I hate to break it to you, sister, but you've been tricked.” 

Kali rolled her eyes. “Of course.” 

But before anything else could be said, the lights started flickering. I felt a ward go up around the building.

“What's happening?” Baldur looked at the fading light.

“It's him,” Sam pronounced. The brothers and I shared looks. 

“How?” Kali asked from besides me. 

“Does it matter?” Dean frowned. “Shazam us out of here, would you?”

“We can't.”

I explained Baldur’s vague answer. “Lucifer has set up a ward. I think it’s to stop the gods from leaving. I can’t get you two through it.”

“Of course you can't.” All of us turned to face the being who had just entered the doorway. It was Lucifer. His vessel was looking sort of shabby. Skin was peeling on his temples and down the sides of his face, revealing raw skin underneath. 

“You didn't say "Mother May I." The devil looked over at the brother and I. “Sam, Dean, Jade, good to see you again.”

“Baldur, don't.” Kali warned as Baldur stepped forward.

“You think you own the planet? What gives you the right?” The Norse god charged the archangel. Who promptly sent a fist through the god’s chest.

“No one gives us the right. We take it.” Lucifer hissed to Baldur as he died. 

That set Kali off. Her arms caught fire, and she sent a large stream towards Lucifer. It was large enough to engulf the angel, and almost hit the boys and me. I had to raise a hand and part the tongues of flame around us, giving the boys time to duck behind a sofa. I joined them a moment later. 

I peeked over the sofa to see Kali advance on the King of Hell, who hadn’t been affected by the flames. He punched her, and she fell to the ground. 

“You okay?” Sam asked Dean.

“Yeah. Not really.” All three of us turned to see Gabriel crouched behind the sofa with us. “Better late than never, huh?” He slapped a DVD case into Dean’s chest. “Guard this with your life.”

I smiled as Gabe went to stand up. “Go get him, and be smart.”

Gabe stood up just as Lucifer went to crush Kali under his foot. Gabriel blasted his brother into the back wall. Lucifer got up and stared at who had toppled him. 

“Lucy, I'm home.” Gabe sing-songed.    
  


Lucifer got up and charged. “Not this time.” Gabriel held his real blade aloft as Lucifer advanced, blood form Baldur dripping down his arm. Gabe glanced behind him and helped Kali up. “Guys, get her out of here.”

“Go, guys, I’ll meet up with you later.” I threw at the brothers. Dean gave me a look, but at my glare, he pulled Sam to his feet. 

Dean and Sam rushed over and hurried the goddess out of the room, Gabirel shielding them. I stayed with the youngest archangel, with my own angel blades out. They wouldn’t kill the devil, but it would hurt like hell. 

“Over a girl. Gabriel, really?” Lucifer raised a brow. “I mean, I knew you were slumming but I hope you didn't  _ catch anything _ .”

Gabe smiled the smallest bit. “Lucifer, you're my brother and I love you. But you are a great big bag of dicks.”

“What did you just say to me?” Lucifer hissed.

“Look at yourself. Boo-hoo. Daddy was mean to me so I'm gonna smash his toys.” Gabe rolled his eyes. 

“Watch your tone.” Lucifer raised a finger in warning. 

“Play the victim all you want, but you and me? We know the truth. Dad loved you best,” Gabriel gestured with his blade. “More than Michael, more than me. Then he brought the new baby home, and you couldn't handle it. So all this is just a great big temper tantrum. Time to grow up.”

“Gabriel, if you're doing this for Michael -”

Gabe cut his brother off. “Screw him. If he were standing here, I'd shiv his ass too.”

“You disloyal-” Lucifer started. 

“Oh, I'm loyal. To them.” Again, Gabe cut him off.

“Who?” Lucifer spread his hands. “These so-called gods?”

“To people, Lucifer. People.” 

The three of us had started to circle each other, though Gabe and I were closer than Lucifer was to either of us.

“So you're willing to die for a pile of cockroaches?” Lucifer frowned. “Why?”

“Because Dad was right.” Gabriel was the most serious I’d ever seen him. “They  _ are  _ better than us.”

“They are broken, flawed, _ abortions _ .” Lucifer spat out.

“Damn right, they're flawed.” The ghost of a smile passed Gabe’s lips. “But a lot of them try to do better, to forgive. And you should see the Spearmint Rhino. I've been riding the pine a long time, but I'm in the game now. And I'm not on your side or Michael's. I'm on theirs.”

“Brother, don't make me do this,” Lucifer whispered. 

“No one makes us do anything,” Gabe retorted. 

“I know you think you're doing the right thing, Gabriel. But I know where your heart truly lies.” Before I could stop him, Lucifer turned around and stopped the strike coming from another Gabriel. Lucifer used Gabe’s own blade to stab him in the stomach. 

“Here.” The first Gabriel faded into smoke. Lucifer turned to the one on the end of the blade. “Amateur hocus-pocus. Don't forget. You learned all your tricks from me, little brother.” Lucifer twisted the blade, and the same light-show from earlier, but real that time, came out of Gabe’s vessel. 

That time, though, there was an addition. Two humongous wings were branded in ash on the floor and some of the table. 

I rushed to Gabriel’s body. “No, no, no, no. Gabe.” I cradled his head in my lap, as I tearfully looked up at Lucifer. 

The devil looked back down at me. “You really cared for him, didn’t you.” His voice was soft, and even a little tearful himself.

My voice cracked a little as I answered. “Of course I do. I care for all the good angels. Hell, I even care for you a little.”

That made the devil pause. “You care for me?”

I shrugged and stood. “While I don’t care for your methods, I do understand why you think humans are so bad. You’ve seen the worst of us.” I walked closer to the archangel, as I wiped at my eyes. “But you haven’t seen the best of us. I also understand that how your father treated you was wrong. There were better ways to handle your situation than locking you up.” The whole time I was talking, I had been slowly walking closer to the King of Hell. 

The devil was looking at me as if he had never seen something like me before, which I guess he hadn’t. “I’ve never had someone say they understand, and mean it.” He smiled. “I’ll make you another offer to join me, but this time, as my bride. I think I want you around.”

“I do understand you, and I really wish that you could understand me as well. I don’t know what to say to your offer, but for now, I have to go.” Before he could reply. I flashed several miles away.

\------------------------

“Dear Diary, being a high-powered business president is super fun but so exhausting.

Sometimes I just need to relax. I need Casa Erotica.”

“Room service.”

“Come in.”

“Gabriel wanted you to guard this with your life,” Sam scoffed as he watched the scene. 

I had met up with the boys again, and told them about Gabriel’s death. They decided to play the disk Gabe had left Dean. It was a Casa Erotica episode.

“Maybe he's a fan.” Dean shrugged. “It is a good one.”

On screen, the room-service man turned out to be Gabriel. “I've got the kielbasa you ordered,” He said in a fake accent.

“Ohh. Polish?” The girl in the video smiled flirtatiously.

“Hungarian.”

“What the hell's going on?” Sam glanced at Dean and me. 

Just then, on-screen Gabriel turned and looked directly in the camera. “Sam, Dean, Jade, you're probably wondering what the hell's going on. Well, if you're watching this, I'm dead. Oh, please, stop sobbing. It's embarrassing for all of us.

Without me, you got zero shot at killing Lucifer. Sorry. But you can trap him. The cage you sprung Lucifer from, it's still down there. And maybe, just maybe, you can shove his ass back in. Not that it'll be easy. You gotta get the cage open, trick my bro back into it and, oh, yeah, avoid Michael and the God squad.

But, hey, details, right? And here's the big secret Lucifer himself doesn't even know. But the key to the cage, it's out there. Actually, it's "keys," plural. Four keys. Well, four rings from the horsemen.” The boys and I exchanged looks. “You get them all, you got the cage. Can't say I'm betting on you boys, but, hey, I've been wrong before.”

On-screen Gabe turned serious. “And, Dean, you were right. I was afraid to stand up to my brother. But not anymore. So this is me standing up.” He fell back to the bed in the video, the girl on top of him. “And this is me lying down.” 

Sam shut the laptop before the scene could go anywhere more. 

“Horsemen, huh?” Dean raised a brow. “Well, we got War's. We nicked Famine's. That's two rings down. Collect all four-?” He didn’t finished the thought. “All we need is Pestilence and Death.”

“Oh, is that all,” Sam scoffed. 

Dean shrugged as we got back in the car. “It's a plan.”


	10. Chapter 10

All recognizable characters are the property of the CW. This work is non-beta’d, all mistakes are mine. Feel free to tell me about them in the comments, but be respectful. 

'Thoughts'- italics

Phasing- Density Shifting

Cloaking- Turning Invisible

Flash- teleport

“Hey, check it out. I look like the King of Pop.” I could tell Dean was smirking beneath his medical mask. 

The boys and I had been running across the country, following reports of swine flu, trying to track down Pestilence. They boys were acting as CDC officials. I was cloaked behind them. I really didn’t feel like being around medical things that day. 

Dean glanced at Sam.“Too soon?” Sam just gave his brother a deadpanned look. “Too soon.”

“....Don't get me wrong, I'm glad the CDC is here,” The nurse was saying. “But what we really need is vaccine.”

“You got that right.” Dean snorted as he looked around the room. There had to have been at least thirty people waiting, all coughing and looking terrible.

“Tell me, have you noticed anything unusual about the strain?” Sam carefully worded his questions. “Any signs of behavioral change? Like aggression, maybe?”

“Excuse me?” The nurse stopped walking and turned to look back at the boys.

Dean clarified for her. “Have the flu victims shown any signs of, uh, homicidal tendencies?”

She gave them a questioning look. “Um, symptomatically speaking, we're looking at a relatively mild case of swine flu here. Probably a miserable week off of work. That's about it.”

“So nothing unusual.” 

The nurse turned back to look at the crowded room. “Well, day and a half ago, we didn't have a single case. Now we're looking at over 70. Infectious equivalent of a briefcase bomb.”

“- Yeah, I might call that a little unusual,” Dean muttered under his breath. “Day and a half. Same time statues started crying.” I made sure that the nurse didn’t hear that last part.

Sam turned back to the nurse. “Is there anything we can do now for you?” 

The nurse shook her head. “No, we have this covered for the most part, just get us some vaccine.”

\-----------------------------

“Let me guess. Another steaming-hot pile of swine flu,” Bobby stated. 

We were on the phone with Bobby as we drove away from the town. It was just beginning to get dark, in the early evening.

“- Yep. Doesn't make any sense, Bobby.” Dean shrugged as he drove.

“Pestilence touched down here.” Sam added. “I'm sure. Why is he dealing up swine flu when he's got the Croatoan virus? I don't get it.”

“Doesn't matter what the son of a bitch is doing. What matters is this is the fourth town he's hit that we know of. And we're still eating his dust.” I could hear the frustration in Bobby’s voice. “Did you get anything? We got even a snowball at probable next target?”

“Uh, no pattern we can see.” Sam shook his head. 

“- Okay. Hold on.” There was the sound of riffling pages. “Well, as far as I can tell, he's still heading east. So head east, I guess.”

“- East?” The boys questioned at the same time. 

“East?” Dean repeated. “Bobby, we're in West Nevada. East is practically all there is.”

“Yeah? Well, you better get to driving.” Bobby snarked as Dean hung up the phone.

“Say, I've got an idea.”

Dean slammed on the brakes at the voice. Crowley had popped up in the back seat with me. He popped away as Sam turned around and stabbed the seat where he had been. 

“Did you get him?” Dean asked as the Impala skidded to a stop on the side of the road. 

“He's gone.” Sam panted as he pulled the demo knife out of the seat.

Just then, a knock sounded on the car window. “Fancy a fag and a chat?” It was Crowley, and he backed up as the boys got out of the car, frowning. 

“You're upset. We should discuss it. Not here, but-”

I just sat back with the car door open and watched the show.

Sam gripped the demon knife. “You wanna talk? After what you did?”

“After what I did to you? I gave you the Colt.” Crowley was still backing up. 

“Yeah, and you knew it wouldn't work.”

“- I never.”

Sam talked over the Crossroad’s King. “You set us up. We lost people on that suicide run! Good people.”

“Who you take on the ride is your own business. Look, everything is still the same. - We're all still in this together.” Crowley was still trying to play nice. 

“Sure, we are-.” Sam was not, though, and he took another swipe at the demon. 

Crowley backed up and glanced over to Dean. “Call your dog off, please.”

“- Give me one good reason,” Dean snarked back. 

“- I can give you Pestilence.” Crowley shot back. 

That calmed Sam down marginally. He stopped actively trying to kill the red-eyed demon. “What do you know about Pestilence?”

“I know how to get him.” Crowley noticed the boys exchange glances. “That's got your interest, doesn't it?”

Sam turned to his brother. “You’re actually listening to this?”

“Sam.-” Dean didn’t meet his brother’s eyes. 

“- Are you nuts?!”

“Shut up a second.” Dean snapped. 

“Shut up, the both of you!” Crowley got their attention. “Look. I swear, I thought the Colt would work. It's an honest mistake. It's all part of the learning process. But nothing's changed. I still want the devil dead.” He paused. “Well, one thing's changed. Now the devil knows that I want him dead. Which makes me the most buggered son in all of creation.”

“- Holy crap, we don't care.” Dean rolled his eyes. 

Crowley raised his voice. “- They burned down my house! They  _ ate _ my tailor! Two months under a rock like a bloody salamander. Every demon on hell and earth has got his eyes out for me. And yet here I am, last place I should be, in the road talking to Sam and Dean Winchester under a frigging spotlight!” Crowley flung a hand up and burst the bulb on the street light above us. “So come with me. Please.” He rolled his eyes. “You want the horsemen rings or not?” The boys traded glances. “Yes, I know all about that. Shall we?”

\----------------------------------

Crowley directed us to an old abandoned house about two hours from where we’d met up. It looked like it hadn’t been touched in years. 

Crowley swept his hands to display the room. “Here we are. My life on the lam. How the mighty have fallen. Single-pane glass. Used contraception in the fireplace.” He sighed and lit a fire with a wave of his hand. “The water damage alone -”

Dean cut him off. “My heart's bleeding for you. Now, how do you know about the ring?”

“Well, now, I've been keeping a close eye on you lot.”

Sam’s brow furrowed. “We got hex bags. We're hidden from demons.”

He shook his finger. “All but one. That night you broke into my house, our first date. My valet hid a tracking device in your car. A magical coin that easily trumps your little bags of bones. Allows me to hear things too. And, my, the things I've heard.” He paused, most likely for dramatic affect. “Heh, heh. So you wanna cram the devil back in the box. Cunning scheme. I want in.”

“You said you could get us Pestilence.” Dean tried to get back to the point.

Crowley shrugged. “Well, now I don't know where Pestilence is per se. But I do know the demon who does. He's what you might call the horsemen's stable boy. He handles their itineraries, their personal needs. He's who you want, believe me. He'll tell us where Sneezy's at.”

“Well, how do we get him to spill? Rip out his toenails,” Dean snarked. 

The red-eyed demon frowned. “No. Nuts at his pay grade don't crack. We bring him here. Then I sell him.”

Sam cocked a brow. “Sell him?”

“Please.” Crowley snorted. “I've sold sin to saints for centuries. Think I can't close one little demon?”

Dean sighed and relented. “All right, so where's this demon of yours?”

\-------------------------

“Why are we even listening to him, Dean,” Sam whispered to Dean. Dean was packing a duffel with clothes and weapons. “This is totally insane.”

“- I don't disagree.” Dean zipped up the duffel and turned back to Crowley.

The demon clapped his hands together. “One big happy family, are we, then? Fantastic. You ready to go?”

“Yeah.” Dean replied as I nodded. 

Crowley turned towards the door. “Sam, keep the home fires burning.”

“What are you talking about?” Dean frowned. 

“Sam's not coming.” Crowley stated. 

“Why the hell not,” Sam retorted.

“Because I don't  _ like _ you.” Crowley walked closer to the taller man. “I don't  _ trust _ you. And, oh, yes, you keep trying to  _ kill _ me.”

“There's no damn way! This isn't gonna happen!” Sam barked.

“- I'm not asking you, am I? Because you're not invited.” Crowley turned to Dean. “I'm asking you. What's it gonna be?”

Dean hesitated.

“Gentlemen, enjoy your last few sunsets.” The demon turned to leave. 

“Wait.” Crowley paused and turned back Dean at Dean’s call. “We’'ll go. Come on, Jade.”

Sam shot his brother an incredulous look as Dean and I passed him. Dean shrugged. “What can I say? I believe the guy.”

We drove off in the Impala as Sam watched from the porch.

\-----------------------

“Demons.” Dean reported as he looked at the building through binoculars. 

Crowley had directed us to a large business building two towns over. It was the headquarters of a medical company. Even that late at night, there were still people in the buildings.

“No, human shields,” Crowley corrected. “The demons are up top, 12th floor.”

“Then we'll have to find a way in through the back.” Dean lowered the binoculars.

“You Winchesters make everything so complicated.” Crowley disappeared from the car. 

“Crap.” Dean sighed. Then, he caught a glimpse of something in the building. Dean raised the binoculars again. “Oh, crap. Oh, crap. Oh, crap.” He dropped the visual aids and hurried out the car and twoards the building. I followed him to the front door. 

Dean knocked to get Crowley’s attention. 

“Door's open.” The demon replied. 

Dean opened the door and we walked in the lobby. There were several bodies laying around, covered in blood. Dean stared at Crowley as he wiped a blade off on a handkerchief. 

“What?”

The older Winchester stepped over the bodies. “You killed them?”  
  
Crowley rolled his eyes. “We're on a tight schedule. Come on.” He paused as Dean stopped to look back at the bodies. “Now you're squeamish? Please.” The demon led us towards the elevator and gently pushed Dean in. “Go get them, tigers.” I got in as well.

Dean frowned. “You're not coming?”

Crowley shook his head. “Oh, no, it's not safe up there. There're demons.”

It was Dean’s turn to roll his eyes. “- Yeah, I get that.”

“Look, just do what I told you. And try to be convincing. It'll work like a charm. Trust me.” Crowley pushed a floor button before stepping out of the way of the doors. He waved to us as the doors closed.

\----------------------------

When we got to the right floor, the doors opened up to a hallway. Dean and I ganked a few demon guards before making our way to the main office. 

A blonde, well-dressed man- Scrach that, demon- was sitting behind an organized desk. He smirked as we entered the room.

“Dean Winchester. Jade. What, no appointment?” 

“Kind of an 11th-hour thing, you know?” Dean snarked back as he took a seat in front of the desk. I stood behind him.

“Well, then, you're just on time.” The demon shrugged and steepled his fingers. “How's your brother?”

Dean didn’t respond. 

“Well, down to business, then. What can I do for you?”

“It's more about what I can do for you,” Dean answered.

The demon raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Me, Jade, and Sam dropped two of your jockeys. I think you know that.”

“Yes, I got the memo.”

Dean tilted his head. “Well, we kept their secret power-rings, which is why I'm here. I heard some folks saying that you wanted them back. And you were willing to pay.”

“- Hm. Where are they?”

“Not here.” Dean’s face hardened. “But you want them? You come with me, nice and civil. Get out of your little Bat-cave here and discuss a transaction.”

“Who says I want them?” The demon asked calmly. 

Dean’s facade cracked. “What?”

“Who says I want them?” The demon repeated. He lowered his hands. “See, War and Famine- even if I could cram the rings back on their bony fingers, I doubt it would do much good. They're withered husks right now. Fetal position on the floor. All thanks to you three. So, I don't want the rings. What I want is  _ retribution _ .” The demon stood up swiftly. “And I'm gonna rip it right out of your asses.”

He jerked forward and went for Dean. I quickly got the demon off Dean with my powers. I held the demon’s vessel in a full body telekinetic hold. 

“Crowley!” The red-eyed demon popped up behind the other demon and whacked him over the head with a metal pipe. Then, Crowley stuck a burlap bag over the demon’s head. It had a devil’s trap drawn on it. 

Dean turned to Crowley. “He didn't want the rings. He wanted me.”

“Imagine the surprise on your face.” 

He frowned. “What?”

Crowley explained. “Your ignorance and misinformation. I mean, completely authentic. You can't fake that.”

“What?” Dean repeated. 

“It went like clockwork.”

“Not for me, you son of a bitch.” Dean replied as he gathered up the bagged demon. “I almost got mauled”

Crowley shrugged. “That's what you get, working with a demon.”

\------------------------

“Hey, hot stuff, watch the upholstery.” Dean snipped as he drove back to the abandoned house.

“Up yours, mate.” Crowley was carving something into the demon’s chest. “This bit of carving will tie our friend here down. No zapping off, no smoking out. Locked in the meat suit. An important piece of our bargaining strategy.” He pointed to the road. With the knife. “Now, up here, we don't want I-50. Take 93 North.”

“What are you talking about?” Dean glanced at the crossroads demon in the rear-view.

Crowley sighed. “Look, we can't take this guy back to your brother.”

“Why the hell not, Crowley?”

He frowned. “They got history, all right?”

I braced myself as Dean slammed on the brakes. The hunter turned around in his seat and pinned the demon with a glare. “You wanna go anywhere, you start talking. What history?”

\-----------------------

“Sam.” 

We were back at the house, and Dean was preparing Sam for who we were about to bring in. 

“- What's going on, Dean?”

“I need you to stay on mission. Okay? Focused.”

Sam scowled. “I don't understand. What's all this about?”

Dean held a hand up. “I'm doing this because I trust you.”

“You trust me to  _ what _ ?” 

Dean led his brother to the room where we had put the demon. At the sound of Sam’s voice, the demon perked up. 

“Sam? Sam, is that you?”

Sam gasped as Dean took the sack off the demon.“Brady?”

Brady smirked. “Brady hasn't been Brady in years. Not since, oh, middle of our sophomore year.”

“What?” Sam almost stumbled back a step.

“That's right.” Brady smiled up at the younger Winchester. “You had a devil on your shoulder, even back then. All right, now, let it all sink in.”

“You son of a bitch.” Sam jumped at the demon, and Dean and I had to hold him back. “You son of a bitch. You introduced me to Jess.”

“Ding, ding, I think he's got it.”

“Damn it, Sam.” Dean grunted as he held his brother back. 

“I'm gonna kill you!” Sam yelled as we dragged him out the room.

Once we got out of the room, and Dean had shut the door, he turned to Sam. “Hey, that's enough.” He placed a hand on Sam’s chest. 

“Get out of my way.” Sam was still staring at the door to the ‘interrogation room.’

“No.” Dean’s tone got firm.

“Get out of my way.” Sam tried again.

Dean and I still didn’t let him go. “There is only one way to win, and it ain't by killing that thing in there.”

Crowley appeared behind Sam. “Well, sounds like you got him nice and fluffed. Thanks so much.” He proceeded into the room and shut the door behind him. 

Dean sighed and stared up at his brother. “Listen to me. We need Pestilence to get at the devil. And we need Brady to get to Pestilence.”

Sam blew up a little. “Why? Because Crowley said so?! Because we trust him now?! Like I trusted Ruby?! Or like I trusted Brady back at school?!”

Dean didn’t have a good answer for that. 

\----------------------------

Crowley emerged from the room about thirty minutes later. 

Dean turned at the sound of the door. “How'd it go? Buy your Girl Scout cookies?”

The King of the Crossroads shook his head. “Not yet. Where's your moose?”

Dena shrugged. “He's cooling off.”

“All right, then.” Crowley smirked and made for the door. 

“Get bent,” Dean shot back. Then he noticed Crowley was leaving.”You going somewhere?”

“Well, he won't budge. So now I have to stick my neck out.” Crowley sounded so put out. 

“What are you gonna do?”

“Exactly the kind of desperate swashbuckle I've been trying to avoid. Now I go kick open a hive of demons.” He tutted as he raised his hand. “This whole bloody ring business better work.” The demon disappeared with a snap of his fingers.

\---------------------------

“Sam? You need something?” I was in the kitchen getting some water, when Sam came up behind me. I didn’t turn around as I filled a glass.

“I’m sorry about this.” He hit me over the head with the butt of his gun. The lights went out in my head.

\----------------------------

I woke up to Dean patting my face as he spoke angrily to Sam. I groaned and grabbed my head. Dean helped me up and to a chair. 

“...What happened?” Dean was asking as he handed me a frozen bag of vegetables. I placed it to the knot on the back of my head.

“Nothing,” Sam replied.

“My ass.”

He sighed. “Dean, I'm fine.”

“Yeah, and what about Brady?” I looked up to see Dean with his hands on his hips.

Sam shrugged. “Like you said we need him.” He turned to me. “Sorry, Jade.”

I raised a brow at the sheepish Winchester. “It’s fine. But, don’t  _ ever _ do that again.”

Sam fidgeted a little as he nodded and didn’t meet my eyes.

\---------------------------

Crowley returned later, and motioned for us to follow him into where Brady was being kept.

“God, the day I've had.” Crowley sighed as entered the room. The Winchesters and I stayed by the door. “Good news. You're going to live forever.”

Brady looked up from his seated position.“What did you do,” He asked with a wary look.

Crowley shrugged and smirked. “Went over to a demon's nest, had a little massacre. Must be losing my touch, though. Let one of the little toads live.” He made a fake surprised face. “Oops. Also might have given said toad the impression that you left your post last night. Because you and I are- Wait for it. Lovers in league against Satan.” Brady closed his eyes and grimaced. “Hello, darling. So now death is off the table. Now, you get to be on the boss's eternal torment list with little old me.”

“Oh, no, no, no.” Brady shook his head in anger.

Crowley continued. “Something else we have in common. Apart from our torrid passion, of course. Craven self-preservation. So, now, why don't you tell me where Pestilence is at?”

But before Brady could say anything, there was a baying sound from outside. 

Sam and Dean froze. “Oh, God, Crowley.”

“Was that a hell-hound?” Sam was looking around.

“I'd say, yeah.”

“ _Why_ was that a hell-hound,” Dean added.

Crowley frowned, then his shoulders dropped. He reached into a coat pocket and withdrew a coin. 

“What's that?” Dean asked as he saw the coin. 

Crowley closed his eyes and sighed. “Remember my little tracking device?”

“Yeah?”

“Demons planted one on me.”

Sam frowned. “You're saying a hell-hound followed you?”

“Technically, he followed this.” Crowley flipped the coin in his hands. 

“Get me out, I'll tell you anything.” Brady suddenly said. He looked desperate to not be anywhere near hell-hounds.

“Shut up.” Sam and Dean snapped at the same time. 

Dean looked back at Crowley. “Okay, then we should go.”

“Sorry, no one knows more about the hounds than I. You're long past the point of go.” The demon flipped the coin at Dean and disappeared.

“Damn it.” Dean punched the air.

“I told you,” Sam snapped. 

“Well,  _ good _ for you,” Dean replied sarcastically. “Luckily we have salt in the kitchen.”

“We'll watch Brady.” Sam called as Dean rushed off. 

“Watch me?” Brady pulled at his ropes. “Get me the hell out of here.”

“Sammy!” Dean came rushing back. 

“Salt?” Dean just glanced at Sam and I. He was holding off a hell-hound with a shotgun.

“Damn it, get me out of here.” Brady pleaded. 

“Shut up.” Sam snapped again. He stared at the space where the hell-hound was.“Great, just great.”

“Hey.” Crowley reappeared. 

Dean shot the demon a look. “You're back?”

Crowley shrugged. “I'm invested, currently.” He turned to to the hell-hound stalking Dean. “Stay.” The creature paused.

“You can control them?!”

“Not that one. I brought my own.” Crowley pet something invisible. It was also about four feet tall, based on where Crowley’s hand stopped. “Mine's bigger. Sic him, boy.” 

Blood started to fall as the two hounds went at it. Dean and Sam jumped into action. Sam cut Brady lose, as Dean hurried me out the door. “Go, go, go. Move, go, go.”

“I'll wager you a thousand my pup wins.” Crowley quipped as we got into the Impala and Dean floored it.

\-------------------

“Yeah, I'm sure Pestilence will be there.”

“Thanks.” 

We were all in an ally, getting information from Brady.

Dean showed the slip of paper to Crowley. “What do you think?”

The red-eyed demon nodded after a glance. “It's good.” He turned to his black-eyed cousin. “You got no reason to lie, have you? Like I said before, you're in my boat now.”

“You've screwed me for eternity,” Brady glared.

“No, won't last that long. Trust me.” Crowley turned away. 

“Where are you going?” Brady questioned. 

“I'm going to do you a favor.” Crowley tossed over his shoulder as he walked. “I expect we'll be in touch.” Dean nodded, and the demon popped away.

“What is this?” Brady glared at Sam, as Dean and I drew a thick salt line across the mouth of the ally. 

Once we were done, we turned back to Brady. Dean gave the demon a dangerous smirk. “All those angels, all those demons, all those sons of bitches, they just don't get it, do they, Sammy?”

“No, they don't, Dean.” Sam was sporting the same smirk. 

Dean stalked closer as I stood guard near the mouth of the alley. “You see, Brady, we're the ones you should be afraid of.”

Sam moved closer to the demon as well. 

Brady chucked, trying to get under Sams skin. “I bet this is a real moment for you, big boy. Gonna make you feel all better, huh?”

“It's a start.” Sam pulled out the demon knife. 

“Gonna make up for all the times that we yanked your chain?” Brady stared to back up. “Yellow Eyes, Ruby, me. But it wasn't all our fault, was it? No, no, no. You're the one who trusted us. You're the one who let us into your life. Let us whisper in your ear over and over and over again. Ever wonder why that is, Sammy? Ever wonder why we were so in your blind spot? Maybe it's because we got the same stuff in our veins.” 

His back hit the wall. “And deep down, you know you're just like us.” Brady lunged towards Sam, but the hunter slammed the demon back. “Argh! Maybe you hate us so much because you hate what you see every time you look in the mirror. You ever think of that?! Maybe the only difference between you and a demon is, your hell is right here.”

Sam plunged the knife into Brady’s stomach without a further word. “Interesting theory.”

Once the light fully faded, Sam dropped the corps and turned away. He walked past Dean and I and got into the Impala. Dean just gave the body another look, before heading for the Impala as well. I was right on his heels. 

Dean started the engine and drove off into the night. 


	11. Chapter 11

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” Dean raged. 

“Dean-” Sam tried to interrupt. He had just told Dean of his plan to let the devil in. 

“No, don't "Dean" me.” Dean was pacing around Bobby’s living room. “I mean- You have had some stupid ideas in the past, but this-” He turned to Bobby. “Did you know about this? “

“What?”

“About Sam's genius plan to say yes to the devil.” Bobby didn’t reply. He didn’t need to. Dean threw his hands up. “Well, thanks for the heads up!”

“Hey, this ain't about me,” Bobby replied.

Dean turned back to Sam. “You can't do this.”

Sam sighed and nodded. “That's the consensus.”

“All right. Awesome. Then end of discussion.” Dean’s phone rang. “This isn't over.”

He acceptd the call. “Hello?”

“Dean?” The voice on the other end was “ - Cas?”

Sam perked up. “Is he okay?”

Dean held a finger up. “We thought you were dead. Where are you?”

“A hospital.”

“Are you okay?”

“No.”

“You wanna elaborate,” Dean aksed.

“I just woke up here. The doctors were fairly surprised. They thought I was brain-dead.”

“So a hospital?”

Cas sounded tired on the other end. “Apparently, after Van Nuys, I suddenly appeared, bloody and unconscious on a shrimping boat off Delacroix. Told it upset the sailors.”

“Uh, well, I gotta tell you, man, you're just in time.” Dean smiled. “We figured out a way to pop Satan's box.”

“How?”

“- It's a long story, but - Look, we're going after Pestilence now. So if you wanna zap over here-” He sounded hopeful.

Cas dashed those hopes with his next words. “I can't zap anywhere.”

Dean frowned. “What do you mean?”

“You could say my batteries are drained.”

“What, you're out of angel mojo?”

“I'm saying that I am thirsty and my head aches.” Castiel sighed. “I have a bug bite that itches no matter how much I scratch. And I'm saying that I'm just incredibly-”

“Heh. Human. Wow.” Cas made a sound of annoyance over the phone. “Sorry.”

The drained angel continued. “- Well, my point is, I can't go anywhere without money for an airplane ride. And food. More pain medication, ideally.”

Dean thought for a second before answering. “All right. Look, no worries. Jade’s here, give us your location and she’ll just come over and get you.”

Cas nixed that idea. “No, it will be better for me to heal up here, then come back when I’m slightly better.”

Dean’s brow furrowed, but he let it go. “Okay then. Well, just call when you want her to come get you.”

Right before Dean hung up, Cas spoke again. “Dean, wait. You said no to Michael. I owe you an apology.”

“Cas. It's okay.”

“You are not the burnt and broken shell of a man that I believed you to be.”

That gave Dean pause. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”

“You're welcome. Be careful.” Cas hung up. 

\---------------------

“You guys be careful,” Bobby said as the boys and I got ready to leave. 

“We will,” Dean reassured the elder hunter. 

\---------------------

“This is Dr. Evil's lair, huh?” Dean said from behind his binoculars.

San huffed. “It's kind of more depressing than evil.”

Dean cocked his head. “It's like a four-color brochure for dying young. Of course, to Pestilence, it's probably Dollywood in there.”

“Great. Whole building full of people.” Sam lowered his own binoculars. “We don't know who's human, who's demon, and who's Pestilence.”

I popped up from the back seat. “I would, but I have to get in closer, or know who exactly it is I’m looking for.”

“That helps, but what do we do to get in?” 

Dean smirked. “Hang on.”

\--------------------------

“Hey. Hi. Uh, I'm looking for my nana. Uh, her name is Eunice Kennedy.” 

Sam and I were waiting out side the door to the security guard’s office, while Dean knocked out the guard. 

“Go around front and see the nurse,” The guard replied.

“You mind just helping me out, sir? Uh, she's about that small and gray hair, wears diapers.”

We heard a punching sound from inside, then silence. Sam and I went in. 

“Eunice Kennedy?” Sam raised an eyebrow at his brother.

Dean shrugged. “That's the beauty about improv, Sammy. You never know what's gonna come out of your mouth.” He started to move the guard’s body out of the way.

\----------------------

“So, what are-?” 

It was hours later when Sam turned away from the camera screens to look at Dean. 

“Hey.-” I nudged Dean to wake him up. He woke with a snort. 

“What are we even looking for?” Sam re-asked his questions.

“Well, he's Pestilence, so he probably looks sick.”

Sam rolled his eyes. “Everybody looks sick. He looked at the screens again. “Hey.”

Dean and I came over. There was a man on the screens that had a line of static following him, concealing his face.

Dean smiled as he grabbed for his shotgun. “Oh, now we're talking.”

\-------------------------

Once we had located what floor the man was on, I sent out my powers to lead the boys towards the Horseman. 

When we rounded a corner, the boys stumbled and started coughing and gagging. There were to other humans laying dead in the hallway. Pestilence's aura had gotten to both already.

“Must be getting close.” Sam commented as we continued on. 

“You think?” Dean snarked back. I, of course, was unaffected, and so took point. 

The three of us made our way further down the hall. Dean with a shotgun, Sam with the demon knife, and myself with one of my angel blades. 

“Dean?” Sam was really sagging.

We only made our way to the door the aura was emanating from, before I was holding the boys upright. The door opened to show a nurse. She was a demon. “Come on. The doctor will see you now.” The being moved out of the doorway to show the man from the camera.

“Sam. Dean. Jade. Come right in.” 

\-----------------------------

  
  


I gently set the boys down and brandished my blade as the man stood up and came forward. The boys were on the ground behind me, trying to reach for their weapons. 

Before Pestilence could speak, I charged the horseman. The demon nurse intercepted me, but I took her down pretty easily. 

Pestilence was a bigger challenge. But, the horseman was used to his aura taking down enemies, so he wasn’t very skilled in combat. 

I managed to pin the horseman and grab his hand. He struggled, and right before I cut his finger off, he said, “It doesn't matter. It's too late.” 

I ignored him and finished the job. He screamed in pain as the appendage was severed, then vanished. I took the ring off the finger. It was similar to Famine’s, but it had a square, green stone instead.

The boys stopped writhing on the floor and we all struggled out the hospital. 

\-------------------------

“Well, it's nice to actually score a home run for once, ain't it,” Bobby commented from behind his desk. He noticed the boys’ looks. “What?”

Dean ticked his shoulders. “Last thing Pestilence said. "It's too late."

“He get specific?”

“No.” Dean sighed. “We're freaked out that he might have left a bomb somewhere. So please tell us you have actual good news.”

Bobby huffed. “Chicago's about to be wiped off the map. Storm of the millennium. Sets off a daisy chain of natural disasters. Three million people are gonna die.”

“Huh.” Cas was leaning against the wall. He had called for me to pick him up right after the boys and I had finished with Pestilence. I’d been happy to give him back his angel blade. He was still drained of grace, though. “I don't understand your definition of good news.”

“Well Death, the horseman, he's gonna be there. And if we can stop him before he kick-starts this storm, get his ring back-”

Dean cut Bobby off with a roll of his eyes. “Yeah, you make it sound so easy.”

“- Hell, I'm just trying to put a spin on it.” Bobby retorted.

Sam snorted from behind Dean. “- Well Bobby, how'd you put all this together, anyways?”

The elder hunter glanced at the floor and muttered, “I had, you know, help.”

“Don't be so modest.” The boys jumped at the voice. Crowley walked over and got a drink. “I barely helped at all.” He took a sip. “Hello, boys. Pleasure, et cetera. Go ahead. Tell them. There's no shame in it.”

“Bobby.” Dean turned back to his pseudo father. “Tell us what?”

“World's gonna end. Seems stupid to get all precious over one little… soul.” Bobby’s voice tapered off near the end.    
  


But, Dean heard it anyways. “You sold your soul?”

“More like pawned it.” Crowley inserted. “I intend to give it back.”

Dean stood from his seat and faced the red-eyed demon. “- Then give it back.”

“- I will.” Crowley took another sip.

“Now!”

Sam turned to Bobby. “Did you kiss him?”

“Sam.” Dean frowned.

“Just wondering.”

“No!” Bobby denied hotly.

Crowley cleared his throat, and held up a phone. The screen held a picture of Bobby and Crowley kissing. 

Bobby glared at Crowley. “Why'd you take a picture?”

“Why'd you have to use tongue,” The demon retorted. 

“All right.” Dean redirected the conversation. “You know what? I'm sick of this. Give him his soul back now.”

“I'm sorry. I can't.” Crowley put his glass down. 

“Can't or won't?” Dean got in his face. 

“I won't, all right? It's insurance.”

“What are you talking about,” Dean asked.

“You kill demons.” Crowley nodded at Sam. “Gigantor over there has a temper issue about it. But you won't kill me as long as I have that soul in the deposit box.”

“You son of a bitch.” Bobby frowned form behind his desk. 

Crowley smirked. “I'll return it. After all this is over and I can walk safely away. Do we all understand each other?”

\-----------------------

“Let me guess. We're about to have a talk.” Dean sighed. He and I were leaning against the impala, having a drink. (Mine was soda, of course.)

Sam approached his brother. “Look, Dean, um, ahem. For the record, I agree with you about me. You think I'm too weak to take on Lucifer?” Dean didn’t respond. “Well, so do I. Believe me, I know exactly how screwed up I am. You, Bobby, Cas, Jade? I'm the least of any of you.”

“- Oh, Sam.” Dean sighed.

Sam continued. “It's true. It is. But I'm also all we got. If there was another way- But I don't think there is. There's just me. So I don't know what else to do except just try to do what's gotta be done.”

“And scene.” Crowley’s voice came from behind us. “Something you need to see.” He handed over a newspaper. 

"Niveus Pharmaceuticals rushing delivery of its new swine flu vaccine" to, quote, 'Stem the tide of the unprecedented outbreak.” Sam read the headlines. “Uh, shipments leave Wednesday.”

“Niveus Pharmaceuticals. Get it?” The boys stayed blankly back at the Crossroads King. He rolled his eyes. “You two are lucky you have your looks. Your demon lover, Brady? VP of distribution, Niveus.” Sam and Dean lit up at the hint. “Ahh, yes, that's the sound of the abacus clacking? We all caught up?”

“So Pestilence was spreading swine flu.” Dean nodded. “Not for giggles. That was step one. Step two is vaccine. And you think-”

Crowley interrupted. “I _ know _ . I'll stake my reputation. That vaccine is chock-full of grade-A, farm-fresh, Croatoan virus.”

“Simultaneous countrywide distribution. “ Sam sighed. “It's quite a plan.”

Crowley nodded. “You don't get to be horsemen for nothing. So you boys better stock up on, well, everything. This time next Thursday, we'll all be living in zombie land.”

\------------------------

“It was night again, and Dean and I were helping the rest of our motley crew pack to go and stop the vaccine from getting out. Dean and I were going with Crowley to find Death. I caught a conversation between Cas and Bobby. 

Cas paused. “This is what they mean by "11th hour," right?” 

“Pretty much.”

“Well, it's the 11th hour and I am useless. All I have is this and my blade.” The angel held up a sawed off shotgun he’d been given. “What am I even supposed to do with it?”

“Point it and shoot.” Bobby shot back. 

“What I used to be -”

The paralyzed hunter cut in. “Are you really gonna bitch to  _ me _ ? Quit pining for the varsity years and load the damn truck.” He threw a duffel bag at the angel, which Cas caught. 

Once we finished packing, Dean turned to Sam. “All right, well, good luck stopping the whole zombie apocalypse.”

Sam huffed. “Yeah. Good luck killing Death.”

“Yeah.” 

“Remember when we used to just hunt wendigos?” Sam smiled softly. “How simple things were?”

“Not really.” Dean replied. 

Sam took out the demon knife and held it out to his brother. “Well, um, you might need this.”

“Keep it. Dean's covered.” Crowley appeared with a handheld scythe. “Death's own. Kills demons, angels, reapers and, rumor has it, the very thing itself.

“How did you get that?” Castiel’s eyes were locked onto the weapon.

“Hello, king of the crossroads.” The demon looked up a Dean. “So shall we?” He turned away, but turned back when nobody moved after him. “Bobby, you just gonna sit there?”

“No.” The hunter rolled his eyes. “I'm gonna river-dance.”

Crowley shrugged. “I suppose, if you wanna impress the ladies.”

Sam and Dean shared confused looks. 

Crowley sighed and took a few steps back towards Bobby. “Bobby, Bobby, Bobby. Really wasted that crossroads deal. Fact, you get more if you phrase it properly. So, I took the liberty of adding a teeny little sub-A clause on your behalf.” He gave a pointed look to Bobby’s legs and turned away again. “What can I say? I'm an altruist. Just gonna sit there?”

Bobby caught on, and tried to move the appendages. They shifted. Sam gave Dean a wide grin. Dean returned it. 

“Son of a bitch.”

“- Yes, I know. Completely worth your soul. I'm a hell of a guy.”

Bobby stood all the way. He got teary eyed and whispered,“Thanks.”

Crowley rolled his eyes and waved a hand at Dean and I. “This is getting maudlin. Can we go?”

\--------------------------

“Hey, let's stop for pizza.”

Dean turned and shot a look at Crowley. “Are you kidding?”

We were in Detroit, walking around and looking for Death.

The demon shrugged as we looked around. “Just heard it was good. That's all. ” He pointed towards a warehouse. “Up ahead. Big, ugly building. Ground zero. Horseman's stable, if you will. He's in there.”

We stopped. “How do you know?”

“Have you met me? Because I know. Also, the block is squirming with reapers.”

I shook my head. “Wrong, Crowley. He’s not there. I can’t sense any aura powerful enough to be him.”

Crowley frowned and held up a finger. “I'll be right back.” He popped away for a second before returning. “Boy, is my face red. Death's not in there.”

Dean was getting annoyed.“Cut the cute, get to the part where you tell us where he is.”

The being shrugged and tilted his head. “- Sorry. I don't know.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Dean held his hands up. “ Wait a minute. You don't know?”

“Signs pointed. I'm just as shocked as you.” Crowley turned and walked away. 

Dean followed closely. “Bobby sold his soul for this.”

“Relax. All deals are soul back or store credit. We'll catch Death in the next doomed city.” Crowley said, unbothered. 

“Millions, Crowley. Millions of people are about to die any minute.”

“True. So I strongly suggest we get out of here.” Crowley kept walking. 

\-------------------------------

“So what? Call in a bomb threat? A thousand bomb threats? How am I supposed to get 3 million out of Chicago in the next 10 minutes?” Dean was ranting to me back in the Impala. He realized Crowley wasn’t in the car. “Come  _ on _ .” Dean startled at a tap on the window. 

I rolled my eyes at the demon’s antics. 

Crowley was speaking, and Dean frowned. “What? I can't hear you.” He startled again as Crowley popped into the car. 

“- I said, I found him. Death. He's in there.” 

Dean and I got out, and he turned back to look inside the car for Crowley. “Are you coming-” There was no one inside. “Or not?”

\-------------------------

Dean and I entered the pizza parlor by the back entrance. He had the scythe in his hands. We crept up behind a man, who was obviously Death. 

But before we got half way across the floor, the scythe's handle heated up, forcing Dean to drop it. 

“Thanks for returning that.” Death didn’t turn around. His voice was misleadingly soft. “Join me, Lady Jade, Dean. The pizza's delicious.”

“Sit down.” He motioned for Dean to sit across from him. Dean and I came around so we could see Death’s face. 

“Lord Death.” I gave a formal bow as Dean sat down warily. I stayed standing behind his shoulder. 

I bowed because Death was the only Horsemen I respected. He and Lady Magic were familiar with each other and she was on good terms with him.

“Took you long enough to find me. I've been wanting to talk to you.” Death took a bite of his deep-dish pizza.

“I gotta say, mixed feelings about that.” Dean was nervous. When Death didn’t reply he cleared his throat. “So is this the part where...?” He trailed off.

“...Where you kill me?” Death finished for him. “You have an inflated sense of your importance. To a thing like me, a thing like you, well- Think how you'd feel if a bacterium sat at your table and started to get snarky. This is one little planet in one tiny solar system in a galaxy that's barely out of its diapers. I'm old, Dean. Very old. So I invite you to contemplate how insignificant I find you.” 

He served Dean a slice of pizza. “Eat.” Dean stared warily at the food, but eventually took up utensils and took a bite. “Good, isn't it?” 

Dean finished, and sat back in his chair. “Well, I gotta ask. How old are you?”

“As old as God.” Death set down his fork. “Maybe older. Neither of us can remember anymore. Life, death, chicken, egg. Regardless, at the end, I'll reap him too.

Dean did a double take. “God? - You'll reap God?”

“Oh, yes. God will die too, Dean.”

Dean leaned back. “- Well, this is way above my pay grade.”

“- Just a bit.” Death steeples his hands in front of him. 

“So then, why am I still breathing sitting here with you?” Dean asked hesitantly. “What do you want?”

“The leash around my neck off.” Death’s voice reflected controlled rage. “Lucifer has me bound to him. Some  _ unseemly _ little spell. He has me where he wants, when he wants. That's why I couldn't go to you. I had to wait for you to catch up.” He sounded derisive. “He made me his weapon. Hurricanes, floods, raising the dead. I'm more powerful than you can process and I'm enslaved to a bratty child having a tantrum.”

Dean raised a brow. “And you think I can unbind you?”

“There's your ridiculous bravado again.” Death shook his head. “Of course, you can't. But you can help me take the bullets out of Lucifer's gun.” he took his ring off. It was a silver band with a milky white stone set in it. “I understand you want this.”

Dean’s eyes locked onto the ring. “- Yeah.”

“- I'm inclined to give it to you.” Death held it out. 

“- To  _ give _ it to me?” Dean was very surprised. 

Death nodded slowly. “That's what I said.”

“But what about Chicago?” Dean glanced out the windows, where the wind was still raging.

“I suppose it can stay. I like the pizza.” Death extended the ring again, but didn’t drop it into Dean’s hand. “There are conditions.”

“Okay. Like?” Dean asked with hesitation.

Death caught Dean’s eyes. “You have to do whatever it takes to put Lucifer in his cell.”

“Of course.”

“ _ Whatever  _ it takes.”

“That's the plan.”

“No.” Death’s gaze was boring into Dean’s. “No plan. Not yet. Your brother. He's the one that can stop Lucifer. The only one.”

“You think?”

“I know. So I need a promise. You're gonna let your brother jump right into that fiery pit.” After a pause in which Dean didn’t respond, “Well, do I have your word?”

“Okay, yeah.” Dean nodded reluctantly. “Yes.”

“That had better be " _ yes _ ," Dean. You know you can't cheat death. “ Death dropped his ring into Dean’s palm after the warning. “Now, would you like the instruction manual?”

\-----------------------

Dean stared at Death’s ring before setting it on the table. In front of us, the other three rings sat in a formation. War’s ring in the middle, and Pestilence and Famine’s on two points of a triangle. 

Dean added Death’s to form the third point and slid it towards War’s. The other two rings slid forward on their own, before all three jumped together to stick onto War’s ring. It created a key that looked vaguely like a fidget spinner. 

I picked up the rings and study them, then looked up at foot steps. It was Bobby. 

“How'd it go at the Rockettes audition,” Dean joked. 

Bobby played along. “High kicks, fair. Boobs need work.” He smiled. “I walked up and down stairs all night for no damn reason. I'm sore. Feels so good, I'm scared it's a dream. But then I remember that the world's dying bloody, so drink?” Bobby held out two bottles, a soda and a beer. 

Dean and I took our respective drinks, and I opened them. Dean took the ring key from me and disassembled it, then put it back together for Bobby to see. “Check it out.”

“Death told you how to operate those?” Bobby took a seat across the table. “The whole deal?”

Dean nodded. “Yeah. It's nuts. Of course, I got bigger problems.”

“Really? Like?”

“What do you think Death does to people who lie to his face?” Dean took a drink.

Bobby took one as well. “Nothing good. What'd you say?”

“Yeah. That I was cool with Sam driving the bus on the whole Lucifer plan.”

Bobby raised a brow. “So Death thinks Sam ought to say yes, huh?”

“I don't know.” Dean looked away. “Yeah. He'd say that. He works for Lucifer.”

“Against his will, I thought he said.” Bobby pointed out. 

“Well, I'd say take his sob story with a fat grain of salt.” Dean shrugged. “I mean, he is Death.”

Bobby poked the table. “Exactly. He's Death. Think of the kind of bird's-eye view.”

“Seriously?” Dean frowned. 

Bobby held his hands up to sooth the elder Winchester. “I'm just saying.”

“Don't.” Dean waved his had. “What happened to you being against this?”

“Look, I'm not saying Sam ain't an ass-full of character defects. But -”

“But what?”

Bobby continued through Dean’s interruption. “Back at Niveus I watched that kid pull one civilian out after another. He must've saved 10 people. Never stopped. Never slowed down.” He sighed. “We're hard on him, Dean. We've always been. But in the meantime he's been running into burning buildings since he was, what, 12?”

Dean tilted his head. “Pretty much.”

“Look, Sam's got a darkness in him. I'm not saying he don't. But he's got a hell of a lot of good in him too.”

“I know.”

Bobby nodded. “Then you know Sam will beat the devil or die trying. That's the best we could ask for. So I gotta ask, Dean.” He pinned Dean with a look. “What exactly are you afraid of? Losing? Or losing your brother?”


	12. Chapter 12

“Hey.” 

Sam and I were sitting on top of the Impala’s hood in companionable silence, when Dean walked up. He grabbed a beer from the cooler and leaned against Baby. 

Sam sat up and turned all little. "Dean? What's going on?”

Dean took a swig from his drink. “I'm in.”

“In with?”

“The whole up-with-Satan thing.” Dean said over his shoulder. “I'm on board.”

“You're gonna let me say yes?” Sam sounded surprised. 

“No, that's the thing. “ Dean shook his head and chuckled. “It's not on me to  _ let  _ you do anything. You're a grown- overgrown- man. If this is what you want, I'll back your play.”

“That's the last thing I thought you'd ever say.” Sam swung his legs off the hood.

“Might be.” Dean shrugged. “I'm not gonna lie to you, though. It goes against every fiber I got. I mean, the truth is you know, watching out for you it's kind of been my job, you know? But more than that it's kind of who I am.” He glanced up at his brother. “But you're not a kid anymore, Sam. I can't keep treating you like one. Maybe I gotta grow up a little too. I don't know if we got a snowball's chance. But I do know that if anybody can do it, it's you.”

“Thank you.” Sam’s voice was slightly emotional.

“So, if this is what you want- Is this really what you want?”

Sam sighed. “I let him out. I gotta put him back in.”

“Okay. “ Dean ticked his shoulders and took another drink. “That's it, then.”

“Not quite.” I sighed and crossed my arms. The two men looked at me. I slid off the hood and walked around to face the two Winchesters.

“What do you mean?” Dean raised a brow. 

“I have to tell you guys something, and you’re not going to like it.”

He snorted. “We haven’t liked most of the news passing around here lately. Shoot.”

I looked at the ground and shuffled my feet as I started to explain. “I have to leave.” That got the boys’ attention.

“What!”

“Why!” 

I held up a hand for them to let me speak. They quieted down. “You know how I said Lady Magic sent me here?” Sam and Dean nodded. “Well, she’s summoning me to another universe.”

“Really, right now? When we’re about to go up against Satan himself?” Dean frowned. “She had the worst timing.”

I uncrossed my arms to scrub at my face. “Actually, she called to me a while a go. I’ve been putting it off. But, I can’t anymore. Not for much longer.”

“And you were going to tell us when?” Dean accused me.

Running a hand through my hair, I sighed again. “I just did. But, guys, I think I will be able to keep myself here until this is over. After a few summonings at inopportune times, I’ve managed to learn to put it off for a while. I just thought you two should know.”

Dean was still angry, but Sam just gave me a sad smile. “Do you know if you’ll be back?”

“I think so, but not for a while. Lady Magic has me all over the place.”

He nodded. “Well, I guess- If you could stay as long as you can, that would help.”

I reached out and took each of the Winchester’s hands. “I promise that I will stay with you guys as long as I can.”

Dean softened a little at the contact. “Well, thanks for all the help, I guess.”

\---------------------------------

We finished bottling up the blood from the two demons. Sam, Dean, Cas, and I- working off Bobby’s intel- had taken out two low level demon lackeys. Castiel and Sam had said that Sam would need to drink their blood, to strengthen his body to hold Lucifer. Let me say, Dean was not happy to hear about that. 

The four of us exited the abandoned building with the milk gallons of blood. 

“I still can't get used to you at eye level.” I heard Dean comment to Bobby, who was waiting out by the cars. 

“So was I right?” Bobby asked back. 

“Yeah, as always, Yoda.” Dean handed his gallons off to me, which I put in the trunk. “We got two stunt demons inside, just like you said.”

There was a small pause. 

“You okay?” Bobby asked as I shut the trunk. 

“Not really.” Dean shook of his mood. “What do you got?”

“Not much.” Bobby spread out some papers. “These look like omens to you? Cyclone in Florida, temperature drop in Detroit, wildfires in L.A.”

Dean held up a hand. “Wait. What about Detroit?”

Bobby picked up a paper. “Temp's dropped about 20 degrees, but only in a five-block radius of downtown Motown.”

“That's the one” Dean pointed. “Devil's in Detroit.”

“Really?” Bobby raised a brow. “As far as foreboding goes, it's a little light in the loafers. You sure?”

“Yeah, I'm sure.” Dean nodded. 

\-------------------------

“Oh, ain't he a little angel?”

It was night time, and we had been on the road for a few hours on our way to Detroit. Cas had fallen asleep in the back seat with me. 

“Angels don't sleep.” Sam commented, killing whatever levity Dean had raised with his joke. 

Dean sighed. “Sam, I got a bad feeling about this.”

Sam snorted and threw a hand up.“You'd be nuts to have a good feeling.”

“You know what I mean.” Dean snarked back. “Detroit. He always said he'd jump your bones in Detroit. Here we are.”

“Here we are.” Sam repeated. 

His brother continued. “This is him rolling out the carpet. He knows something we don't.”

“Dean, I'm sure he knows a butt-load we don't.” Sam shrugged and scoffed. “But you gotta hope he doesn't know about the rings.” There were a few seconds of silence, then Sam spoke up again. “Hey. Um- There's something I gotta talk to you about.”

“What?” Dean glanced at his brother. I sat up and leaned against the front seat. 

Sam exhaled slowly. “This thing goes our way, and I triple Lindy into that box? You know I'm not coming back.”

“Yeah, I'm aware.” Dean replied tersely. He kept his eyes on the road.

“So you gotta promise me something.”

He nodded. “Okay, yeah. Anything.”

“You gotta promise not to try to bring me back.” Sam turned to face his brother as best he could. 

“What?!” Dean glanced between the road and Sam. “No. I didn't sign up for that.”

“- Dean.”

The older Winchester cut his younger brother off. “Your hell will make my tour look like Graceland. You want me to sit by, do nothing?”

Sam nodded. “Once the cage is shut, you can't poke it, Dean. It's risky.”

“No, no. As if I'm just gonna let you rot in there.”

“- You don't have a choice.”

Dean’s voice cracked a little. “- You can't ask me to.”

“I'm sorry, Dean.” Sam was frowning as well. “You have to.”

“So then what am I supposed to do?”

Sam smiled morosely. “You go find Lisa. You pray to God she's dumb enough to take you in. You have barbecues and go to football games. You go live some normal, apple-pie life, Dean. Promise me.” Dean didn’t reply, so Sam turned to me. “Promise me you’ll stay long enough to make him.”

I nodded my ascent. 

\-------------------------

“Demons, at least two dozen of them.” Bobby reported. We had gotten to Detroit at about three in the morning, and found the epicenter of the temperature drop. It was an abandoned building crawling with demons. The whole drive, Sam, Dean, and I had discussed plans, and decided on one. 

“- You were right. Something's up.” I came back from looking around.

“- More than something.” Dean set his jaw. “He's here. I know it.”

“I'll see you around, kid.” Bobby stepped up to say goodbye to Sam. I went to watch the building with Dean, but could still hear them. 

“See you around.” Sam gave the lore-gatherer a small smile, then a hug. 

Bobby was tearing up as they parted. “If he gets in, you fight him tooth and nail. Do you understand? Keep swinging. - Don't give an inch.”

“- Yes, sir.” 

Sam walked over to Castiel, but I tuned out their conversation. 

Once they were done, Sam went to the trunk and opened it. Dean and I watched him. 

Sam fidgeted uncomfortably. “You mind not watching this?” 

I nudged Dean so he would turn around. He did, and I could hear the sounds of Sam opening the first gallon. 

A few minutes later, and the trunk closed. “Okay. Let's go.” Sam walked over to Dean and me. 

We all gave each other determined looks, then quickly walked forwards towards the building. 

“All right!” Sam spread his arms as he yelled into the night. “We're here, you sons of bitches! Come and get it!”

Three demons came out the building. The three of us stopped. 

“Hey, guys.” Dean snarked. “Is your father home?”

\-----------------------------

The door banged open as we were manhandled by the demon lackeys into a room. 

Lucifer was sitting on the windowsill. “Hey, guys. It's so nice of you to drop in.” He didn’t turn around as he drew a pitchfork in the frost on the glass. “Sorry if it's a bit chilly. Most people think I burn hot. It's actually quite the opposite.”

“Well, I'll alert the media,” Dean rolled his eyes. 

At that, the Devil actually turned and looked at us. “Help me understand something, guys. I mean, stomping through my front door is a tad suicidal, don't you think?”

Sam’s face was determined. “We're not here to fight you.”

“No?” Lucifer tilted his head. “Then why are you?”

Sam took a step forward. “I wanna say yes.”

“Excuse me?”

I took a step forward as well. “Me as well.”

The boys startled at my words. Dean’s face showed pure betrayal at my actions. “Jade, why-” 

I cut Dean’s pleadings off, still addressing Lucifer. “I’ve thought long and hard on your offer, and realized that you would understand me more that they,” I shot a derisive look at the boys. “-ever could. I want to be your wife.”

Lucifer smiled and I could feel his grace sweep over my mind, trying to sense my intentions. Luckily, he seemed to believe me and extended his hand. “And you will be.” 

I smiled, walked forward, and took the offered appendage. He gently pulled me into his side and waved a hand over my left hand. A pretty diamond ring appeared on my hand. It had a simple silver band, and one medium-sized marquise cut diamond. I floated up and pressed a gently kiss to his cheek as thanks. 

When I set back down, the fallen angel turned back to the Winchesters. “You were saying?”

Sam simply closed his eyes, and the three demons behind them crumpled to the floor, a dull yellow light the only indication they had been killed.

Lucifer raised a brow. “Chock-full of Ovaltine, are we?”

“You heard me.” Sam snarled. “Yes.”

“You're serious.” Lucifer raised a brow.

Sam’s nosed flared as he took a deep breath. “Look, Judgment Day's a runaway train. We get it now.”

“- We just want off,” Dean finished.

“Meaning?” 

“Deal of the century.” Sam took another step forward. “I give you a free ride, but when it's all over I live, he lives, you bring our parents back-”

Lucifer cut Sam off. “ Okay, can we please drop the telenovela? I know you have the rings, Sam.”

Sam was shocked but he quickly pulled himself together. “I have no idea what you're talking about.”

“The Horsemen's rings?” The Devil smiled. “The magic keys to my cage? Ring a bell?” He sighed. “Come on, Sam, I've never lied to you. You could at least pay me the same respect. It's okay. I'm not mad. A wrestling match inside your noggin. I like the idea. Just you and me, one round, no tricks. You win, you jump in the hole. I win well, then I win. What do you say, Sam?” Lucifer took a step closer to Sam as he removed his arm from my shoulders. “A fiddle of gold against your soul says I'm better than you.”

I chuckled at the use of the old song. Dean glared at me. 

Sam glanced at his brother. “- So he knows. Doesn't change anything.”

“ - Sam.” Dean cautioned. 

Sam swiped a hand. “- We don't have any other choice.”

“- No.”

He closed his eyes. “Yes.”

Lucifer closed his eyes, and began to glow. I closed my eyes, and when I opened them, Lucifer’s old vessel was lying on the ground, and so were the boys. 

Dean got up first and he went to his brother. “- Sammy?”

Sam woke up. “- Dean.”

“- Sammy.”

He struggled to his feet, but stayed hunched over, a pained expression on his face. “- Oh, I can feel him. Oh God.”

Dean quickly pulled out the horsemans’ rings and threw them against the wall. They stuck, and Dean chanted the Enochian incantation. The wall sunk away to form a hole, with winds and suction.

Dean helped Sam to the edge. “- You gotta go now. Come on!” Sam didn’t move forward. “Go now, Sammy. Now,” Dean called. 

After a few more seconds, Sam straightened up. Dean frowned in confusion. Lucifer turned around with a smirk on his face. “I was just messing with you. Sammy's long gone.” 

He walked back over to me, and I took his arm. He turned back to Dean. “I told you this would always happen in Detroit.” Chanted an Enochian counter spell, the portal closed, leaving a smooth wall. Lucifer, taller in Sam’s body, led me into the middle of the room. “Come along Jade.” Dean just stared as The Devil flew me away. 

\------------------------------------------

“Sam. Come on. I can feel you scratching away in there. “ Lucifer said out loud. He had brought me to another abandoned building. Where, I didn’t know. There were several other demons, male and female vessels, in the room with us. 

He sighed. “Look. I'll take the gag off, okay? You got me all wrong, kiddo. I'm not the bad guy here.” Lucifer motioned for me to come to his side. I complied. He gestured to the cracked mirror in front of us. I felt his grace affecting my mind, then suddenly, his reflection moved without him moving. By the expression, it was Sam. 

“I'm gonna rip you apart from the inside out.” Sam clenched his fist. “Do you understand me? And, Jade,” He looked at me. “How could you betray us like that?”

I looked up at Lucifer to answer. The disgraced archangel smiled down at me and patted my hand. 

“Such anger, young Skywalker,” Lucifer tutted. “Jade did the right thing, she knows who her true family is. Just like you will come to see. But really, who are you actually angry with? Me or that face in the mirror?”

“I'm sure this is all a big joke to you.” Sam was glaring daggers.

Lucifer shook his head. “Not at all. I've been waiting for you for a long long time. Come on, Sam. You have to admit you can feel it, right?” He smirked.

“What?” Sam frowned in confusion.

“The exhilaration. And you know why that is? Because we're two halves made whole. MFEO, literally,” Lucifer taunted.

“This feels pretty damn far from good.” Sam was shaking with suppressed rage.

“I'm inside your grapefruit, Sam.” Lucifer tapped his temple. “You can't lie to me. I see it all. How odd you always felt. How out of place in that family of yours. And why shouldn't you have? They were foster care at best. I'm your real family.”

“No, it's not true.” 

The archangel continued on. “- It is. And I know you know it. All those times you ran away, you weren't running from them. You were running towards me. This doesn't have to be a bad thing, you know.” He tilted his head. “I let Dean live, didn't I? I want him to live. I'll bring your folks back too. I want you to be happy, Sam.”

“I don't want anything from you,” Sam retorted.

“Really? Not even a little payback?”

“What's that supposed to mean?”

Lucifer looked at the demons behind us. “- Look closely. None of these little devils look familiar to you?”

“That's Mr. Bensman.” Sam looked over the demons as well. “One of my grade-school teachers.”

“And that's your friend Doug from that time in East Lansing.” Lucifer added. “And Rachel your prom date.” He smiled. “Sam Winchester, this is your life. Azazel's gang. Watching you since you were a rug rat. Jerking you around like a dog on a leash. I know how you feel about them. Me too. So, what do you say you and I blow off a little steam?”

Lucifer looked down at me, then waved his hand and a plush couch appeared to one side of the room. “Jade, you can watch. If you need anything, call for a demon. They will follow your commands.”

“Thank you, fiancé.” I smiled and went to sit on the couch. A blanket appeared, so I draped it over my legs. 

I watched as Lucifer started tearing into the assembled demons with his bare hands. 

\------------------------------

Lucifer sat next to me after he had killed all the demons in the room. He looked over into a nearby mirror. I looked over as well. Sam was looking back at him, panting and looking frightened.

“Are we having fun yet,” My soon-to-be-husband taunted the younger Winchester.

\------------------------------

The night and morning passed in a similar fashion, and when late morning came, Lucifer woke me up. I had fallen asleep after the fourth round of demons had been killed. 

“Darling,” Lucifer gently shook me awake. I sat up, and pecked him on the cheek. “It’s time for me to face my brother. Would you like to come with me?” 

I smiled softly. “Of course, my Morningstar. Just let me find something to eat.”

He smiled with an almost indulgent look in his eyes and wrapped an arm around me. “No need.” Lucifer snapped his fingers, and a tray appeared in my lap. It held a plate full of pancakes, bacon, and a biscuit. There was also a glass of orange juice.

“Thank you.” I tucked into the food, and finished in about fifteen minutes.

Noticing I was done, Lucifer banished the tray and stood. He offered his arm, and I took it. He flew the pair of us away.

\------------------------------

We landed in a graveyard. I read the iron arch above the entrance. It was backwards, but I made out the name: Stull cemetery.

Lucifer looked down at me. “Stay out of the way please, darling. I don’t want Michael trying to hurt you.”

“I will,” I detached my arm from his, and moved off to the side. He smiled fondly at me, but we both tensed at the feeling of another angel. 

Lucifer turned around. “It's good to see you, Michael.”

Michael was in Adam’s body. “You too. It's been too long.”

Lucifer took a few steps forward. “Can you believe it's finally here?”

“No. Not really.” Michael had his hands in his pockets. “Are you ready?”

“As I'll ever be.” Lucifer shrugged.

“A part of me wishes we didn't have to do this.” Lucifer snorted softly. 

“Yeah. Me too.” Michael was solemn.   
  


“Then why are we?” 

“Oh, you know why.” Michael accused. “ I have no choice after what you did.”

“What  _ I  _ did?” The fallen archangel gestured to his own chest. “What if it's not my fault?”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Michael calmed down slightly.

“Think about it. Dad made everything. Which means he made me who I am. God wanted the devil.”

“So?”

“So  _ why _ ?!” Lucifer raised his voice a little. “And why make us fight? I just can't figure out the point.”

“What's  _ your _ point?” Michael’s expression still didn’t change.

“We're going to kill each other. And for what? One of Dad's tests.” Lucifer threw his hands up. “We don't even know the answer. We're brothers. Let's just walk off the chessboard.”

“I'm sorry. I can't do that.” Michael shook his head. His face hardened. “I'm a good son. I have orders.”

“But you don't have to follow them.” Lucifer tried again. 

“What, you think I'm gonna rebel? Now?” Michael scoffed. “I'm not like you.”

“Please, Michael.”

“No, you haven't changed a bit, little brother.” Now Michael was really getting annoyed. “Always blaming everybody but yourself. We were together. We were happy. But you betrayed me, all of us, and you made our Father leave.”

“No one makes Dad do anything.” Lucifer retorted. “He is doing this to us.”

“You're a monster, Lucifer. I have to kill you.”

“If that's the way it's gotta be-” Lucifer tensed. “Then I'd like to see you try.” 

The two angelic brothers started to circle each other, each archangel watching the other for any sign of weakness. The tension rose. But, just before it broke, the sound of a familiar car engine came from the entrance to the cemetery.

It was Dean in the Impala. He drove right up the the angels, then got out of Baby. “Sorry, am I interrupting something,” He snarked. 

Dean’s eyes slid right over me and landed on Sam.“Hey. We need to talk.”

“Dean.” Lucifer raised a brow. “Even for you, this is a whole new mountain of stupid.”

“I'm not talking to you. I'm talking to Sam,” Dean retorted.

“You're no longer the vessel, Dean.” Michael added. “You've got no right to be here.”

Dean turned his head to look at his half-brother’s body. “Adam, if you're in there somewhere, I am so sorry.”

“Adam isn't home right now.” Michael took a step closer to the elder Winchester.

Dean shrugged. “Then you're next on my list. But I need five minutes with him.” He pointed at Sam/Lucifer.

“You little maggot.” Michael started to move towards Dean in earnest. “You are no longer a part of this story!”

“Hey, ass-butt!”

The archangels and I all looked over to Castiel’s voice, just in time to see a flaming bottle hit Michael in the chest. It shattered, and engulfed the archangel. Michael screamed, and was eaten up by the flames. 

Dean turned to Cas once the eldest archangel was gone. "Ass-butt"?”

Cas didn’t respond to the question. “He'll be back and upset, but you got your five minutes.”

Lucifer glared at the younger angel. “Castiel. Did you just Molotov my brother with holy fire?”

Cas realized what trouble he was in, and started to back up. “ - Uh, no?”

“- No one dicks with Michael, but me.” Lucifer raised a hand and snapped his fingers. Cas exploded, showering Bobby, who was standing nearby, with blood.

Dean stared at the the fallen archangel. “Sammy? Can you hear me,” He tried.

“You know I tried to be nice.” Lucifer stepped up to Dean. “For Jade and Sammy's sake. But you are such a pain in my ass.” He grabbed the hunter and threw him onto the hood of Baby.

I caught Bobby’s movement just in time to raise a hand and stop the bullets from hitting Lucifer. They hovered in the air.

The Devil turned at the noise. Bobby shot again, but I caught that bullet as well. Lucifer frowned and raised his hand again. That time, he twisted his hand as he snapped Bobby’s neck. 

“No!” Dean cried as Bobby’s body fell to the ground.

Lucifer turned back to the Winchester. “Yes.” He dragged Dean off the hood of the car, and punched him in the face. 

“Sammy? Are you in there,” Dean tried. 

Satan smirked. “Oh, he's in here, all right. And he's gonna feel the snap of your bones.” He punched Dean a few more times. “Every single one. We're gonna take our time.” Lucifer then proceed to beat up on Dean until Dean couldn’t see out of one eye, it was so swollen.

Lucifer had just grabbed onto Dean’s shirt, to whale on him again, when Dean started to speak to Sam. 

“Sammy. It's okay. It's okay. I'm here. I'm here. I'm not gonna leave you. I'm not gonna leave you.”

Lucifer got in a few more punches, then he paused, right in the middle of a wind up. He was frozen for a good thirty seconds. I could feel the raging battle in his mind, through the small link Lucifer had set up. 

Then, Sam’s fist unclenched and he released Dean. 

The elder Winchester looked up at his brother ans Sam panted. “It's okay, Dean. It's gonna be okay. I've got him.”

Sam pulled the Horsemens’ rings out of his pocket, and threw them on the ground. He chanted the Enochian spell, and the hole appeared, wind and all. The younger Winchester was just about to jump when Michael showed back up and put a hand on his shoulder. 

Even through the wind, I could hear what they were saying. “Sam. It's not gonna end this way!” Michael yelled. “Step back!”

“You're gonna have to make me.” Sam replied. 

“I have to fight my brother, Sam! Here and now! It's my destiny!” Michael tried to pull Sam back from the edge. 

Sam didn’t let him, and grabbed onto Michael’s arm. Sam pulled the archangel down with him as he jumped into the pit. 

  
  


\--------------------

Once Sam and Michael were gone, the hole disappeared, and the wind stopped. I rushed over to Dean, who was on his knees. 

“Dean. The shields in your minds held. Lucifer bought my story. I was able to watch over Sam. It’s done, you did it.”

Dean didn’t look up until another set of feet entered his downcast view. He looked up to see me and a trench-coated angel

“Cas, you're alive?” Dean gasped with cracked lips.

“I'm better than that.” Cas set two fingers to Dean’s forehead, and with a sweep of grace, healed Dean’s injuries. 

Dean blinked, getting used to seeing through both eyes again. He stood up and faced the revived angle. “Cas, are you God?”

“That's a nice compliment, but no.” Castiel shook his head. “Although I do believe he brought me back. New and improved.” The angel of Thursday knelt down and placed his fingers on Bobby’s head. 

There was the cracking sound of bones mending, then Bobby took a deep breath and opened his eyes. Cas helped him stand, and they both faced Dean. 

Dean didn’t say anything else, he simply looked down at the object in his hand, the horsemens’ key ring.

\--------------------------------

“What are you gonna do now?”

Cas, Dean, and I were driving back to Bobby’s. It was night, and Dean was staring at the road. 

“Return to heaven, I suppose.” Cas replied mildly. 

“Heaven?” Dean cocked an eyebrow. 

The angel nodded. “With Michael in the cage, it's anarchy there.”

“So, what, you're the new sheriff in town?”

“I suppose I am.”

Dean snorted. “Wow, God gives you a brand-new, shiny set of wings, and you're his bitch again.”

“I don't know what God wants. I don't know if he'll even return.” Cas sounded almost resigned. “It just seems like the right thing to do.”

“Well, if you do see him, you tell him I'm coming for him next.” 

Cas turned to Dean fully. “You're angry.”

“That's an understatement.” 

He tried to reason with Dean. “He helped. Even more than we realize.”

Dean wasn’t buying it. “Easy for you to say. He brought you back. But what about Sam? What about me, huh? Where's my grand prize? All I got is my brother in a hole.”

“You got what you asked for, Dean.” Cas’s tone turned firm. “No paradise. No hell. Just more of the same. I mean it, Dean. What would you rather have? Peace or freedom?”

Dean chuckled. “You really suck at goodbyes, you know that?”

\-----------------------------------

I said my own goodbyes outside of Lisa’s house. Dean parked the Impala, and turned to me. I tried to lighten the mood a little. “Hey, I might return, you never know.” 

Dean nodded, but I could tell he wasn’t hopeful. “Yeah, maybe.” He shifted behind the wheel, then did something I never would have thought would happen voluntarily. Dean reached over and hugged me. “Hey, If you do end up back here, swing by. Lisa would love to meet you.”

“Only if you promise me to actually try and live the apple pie life. You deserve it,” I said as I returned his hug.

Dean promised me, then gathered his duffel bag and opened the car door. 

\-----------------------------------

I watched as he walked up the front path and knocked on the door. The door light came on, and a woman opened the door. She took one look at Dean’s face, then opened her arms. Dean fell into them and she cradled the back of his head. I could see her mouth moving, presumably whispering reassuring words to Dean. 

I watched Lisa comfort Dean a while longer, before he pulled his head up and said something that made Lisa smile.

And with that, they walked inside and closed the door. I smiled softly and flashed away, to start my own next adventure.


End file.
